


Rising Heat

by LoveThemWinchesters



Category: CW Network RPF, Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Animal Traits (minor), Bearding (sort of), Beta!Danneel, Beta!Genevieve, Blow Jobs, Caring and Protective!Jensen, Claiming Bites, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, First Time Bottoming, Fuck Or Die, I think that's enough tags, J2, Jared Padalecki/Genevieve Cortese (past), Jared has a Secret & So Does Jensen, Jared is Stubborn, Jensen Ackles/Danneel Harris (past) - Freeform, Knotting, Lost In The Jungle, M/M, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Meant To Be, Mild DubCon (due to heat), Mpreg (mention of), Mugged While Abroad, Non-AU with AU Elements, POV Jared Padalecki, Post-Season/Series 04, RST, Rimming, Scams/Robbery, Snakes Monkeys and Jaguars Oh My!, True Mates, UST, abandoned, alpha!Jensen, bottom!Jared, caring!jared, hurt!Jensen, omega!Jared, sick!jared, top!Jensen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-14
Updated: 2016-11-11
Packaged: 2018-08-22 04:39:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 44,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8273155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveThemWinchesters/pseuds/LoveThemWinchesters
Summary: Season 4 has just come to an end and so has Jensen’s long-time relationship with his beta Danneel.When his best friend comes up with the insane idea to head out to the jungles of Peru, Jared assumes it’s Jensen’s way of dealing with his heartbreak. Jared couldn’t have been more wrong.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I've posted something this big...and this is also my first a/b/o, so please be kind. I know the trope tends to be more D/s than I've written, but I wanted to give it my own spin. I just like to be different.
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------  
> Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I mean no disrespect to the people portrayed herein. We're all just having a little fun, aren't we? :)  
> \----------------------------------------------------  
> Warnings: This fic is m/m. Please do not read if you don’t like or are uncomfortable with this content.  
> \----------------------------------------------------  
> Again, many thanks to [aire_blair](http://archiveofourown.org/users/aire_blair/pseuds/aire_blair) for being my beta on this one. Your thoughts and wisdom are much appreciated.
> 
> I also owe a quick thanks to [TxDorA](http://archiveofourown.org/users/TxDorA/pseuds/TxDorA) for her help in translating the few bits that needed it, and also to [RiatheMai](http://archiveofourown.org/users/RiatheMai/pseuds/RiatheMai) and [Kailene](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Kailene/pseuds/Kailene) for your read-throughs. You ladies are awesome!!

 

 

 

 

_March 23, 2009 | Supernatural Soundstage – Vancouver, Canada | 9:59pm_

 

“All right, Sammy, let’s go,” Dean hissed as he grabbed Sam by the jacket, outright fear etched deeply into his features. It wasn’t a look Sam saw often on his brother’s face.

_Shit, this is bad._

Sam’s own hands were clenched in the soft, olive-colored fabric of Dean’s shirt; his feet were rooted to the spot as he stared down at what he’d just done. _Oh, god… or rather, Lucifer._

“Dean, he’s coming,” he whispered just loud enough for his brother to hear, eyes wide in shock, terror… and guilt as he and Dean looked at the floor, at the portal they— _he—_ had just opened by killing Lilith and therefore breaking the last seal.

\---

Jared held his breath. It was the last scene, the _last_ line of the season, and he prayed Kripke had liked what he’d seen.

“Cut! And that’s a wrap,” the director/showrunner called out as he pulled off his headset and jumped out of his director’s chair to head in their direction. He had a proud smile spreading from ear to ear. “Fantastic job as always, guys.” The comment was accompanied by a hearty, open-handed clap to each of their backs.

“Hey, Eric?” someone called out from the melee of techs, producers, and other crew still moving around the set.

Kripke looked over his shoulder and then back at Jared and Jensen. “Sorry, gotta run.” As he turned to join Todd Aronauer, one of the show’s producers, he stopped and spun on his heel. “I know you two want to get outta here, so scram. Have a couple of beers for me. And hey, I’ll be in touch.” And then he was off and running. It wasn’t unusual for Eric to be running off in a hundred different directions at once; both Jared and Jensen were used to it after four and a half years of knowing the man.

It took Jared a minute or two to shed himself of Sam and get back to being just Jared again. Once he did, he looked over at Jensen. His co-star smiled at him, eyes crinkling at the corners, before pulling him into a tight, congratulatory hug. Jared barely had time to enjoy the warmth of the embrace before Jensen pulled away.

“We survived another one, bro,” Jensen said as he accepted two bottles of water from one of the PAs and passed one over to Jared.

“Krip sure knows how to leave ‘em hanging, huh?” Jared cracked the seal on his bottle and took a long swig of the almost icy water. It felt good after standing under the hot stage lighting in two layers of shirts and his jacket (well, Sam’s jacket) on top of them.

“Yeah. That, he sure does. And, hey, no one died this time.”

“Hey!” a familiar voice shouted out from behind them. “I died.”

Jared laughed when Gen snuck up and slapped Jensen on the side of his shoulder.

Jensen rubbed his arm and looked down at the petite brunette. “You don’t count, babe. You’re not a _Winchester_.”

“I might not be a Winchester… but I’m _awesome_.” Gen’s dark eyes narrowed in challenge. Jared snickered as he watched her and Jensen go back and forth. Dean might hate Ruby and Ruby might hate Dean, but Gen and Jensen got along great.

Jensen wrapped an arm around Gen’s shoulders and pulled her into his side. He leaned over some since she just barely reached his shoulders and spoke into her ear. “But you still don’t count.”

Jared reached over and tugged the witty beta away from Jensen before the two of them got out of hand—and they could; he’d been witness to it on more than one occasion. He kissed her on the top of her head and stage whispered, “Ignore him. He’s an ass.” His words got a giggle out of her.

“You’re not exactly innocent yourself.” She twisted around in Jared’s arms, her small hands coming up to rest on his chest, and looked up at him with an arch of a well-manicured eyebrow. “ _You_ let him stab me! What’s the matter, don’t you love me anymore?”

She puckered out her lower lip giving Jared a sad pout, but the corner of her mouth twitched and there was a twinkle in her eye that caused Jared to throw his head back and laugh.

Gen gave him a playful glare before pushing him away. “Yeah, laugh it up, big boy,” she called over her shoulder as she turned to leave, “Ruby might be dead, but Genevieve is alive and kicking… and she knows how to get even.” With that, she disappeared into the throng of people still milling about.

“Wow. She’s talking in third person, dude. You think you should be worried?” Jensen asked with wry amusement, pulling Jared’s attention away from the tiny beta.

“Nah.” He turned and looked back at Jensen; the bottle green of the other man’s eyes shone brightly under the stark lighting from above. “She loves me… I think,” he added as an afterthought.

Jensen just stared at Jared for a minute and then he cracked, a big grin splitting his face before he laughed. It was contagious and Jared found himself joining in. Some of the crew looked in their direction with their own smiles and shook their heads. By now, they were all used to Jensen’s and Jared’s antics on set.

“So, now that we’re free,” Jensen started, “I was thinking we could hit up a bar, do a little quiet celebrating of our own, just the three of us. That’s only if you don’t already have plans…” He looked pointedly in the direction Gen had disappeared then back at Jared waggling an eyebrow.

“Actually, Gen’s heading back to her apartment in LA. Clif’s taking her to the airport in just a bit.”

“Alpha night out, then?”

Jared nodded with a smile. “Looks like.”

~ * ~

_March 29, 2009 | Salute to Supernatural LA | 11:32pm_

 

Jared bid their two security guards goodnight and closed the door behind him as he followed Jensen into their hotel room. Jensen fell face-first onto the bed closest to the door (character bleed through, anyone?) with a tired groan. Jared stumbled onto his own bed seconds later with a deep sigh as he felt the tension ease out of his muscles. Conventions might only be a one-day stint for them, but they were damn near exhausting—and maybe they had stayed out at the bar downtown just a little too late last night, and maybe they had had just a little too much fun while they were there (but no one needed to know that).

Jared was supposed to have done this last weekend down in Florida, too, but had had to bow out with less than a week’s notice because of filming commitments. That made two cons in a row now (Jensen hadn’t been on the schedule for either) and he knew the fans were disappointed so he made sure to put on a good show today; he might have gone a little overboard. And in just three short weeks, he and Jensen were going to have to do it all over again, this time in Sydney—but at least they’d get some downtime before they had to leave. Jared didn’t know about Jensen, but he planned to sleep straight through until then.

He turned his head and looked over at the other bed; the alpha’s frame was barely visible in the twilight of the room. They didn’t generally share a room during conventions, but the hotel had screwed up something somewhere and had overbooked itself. All that had been left was one room with two queens. Jared didn’t mind all that much; neither did Jensen for that matter. Anyway, if Jared was to be honest with himself, he preferred the company, even if said company was showing no signs of life at the moment.

“Dude, you even alive over there?”

The only reply was a muffled grunt from where Jensen’s face was pressed into his pillow. Yeah, it didn’t look like Jensen was going to be going anywhere anytime soon. He was down for the count.

Jared sighed and reluctantly pushed up into a sitting position, joints cracking as he did. He toed off his sneakers and then got back up to head over to his bags in socked feet. Jensen might be able to sleep in his jeans and t-shirt, but Jared couldn’t. Actually, he didn’t like sleeping in anything at all, a fact which Jensen had, embarrassingly enough, found out within days of moving in with Jared in Vancouver.

He rummaged through his clothing duffel until he found a comfortable pair of track pants and an old, ratty t-shirt (quite possibly one of Sam’s) and then unzipped the side pocket to retrieve a small packet of white pills. He glanced over his shoulder at Jensen before punching through one of the foil bubbles and popping a tablet into his mouth to swallow it dry. He stuffed the pack back into his bag and stepped into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

When Jared returned to the room, he noted that, while still on his stomach, Jensen had moved into a more comfortable position on the bed. The shift had caused the man’s over-shirt to twist up around his torso and his t-shirt was now rucked up exposing a pale sliver of skin between the gray cotton and the dark denim of his jeans—and Jared’s eyes did _not_ linger there for a second too long. No, they absolutely did not.

He nudged Jensen’s foot with his knee where it hung off the foot of the bed as he was passing by to pack his dirty clothes away. All he got for his effort was another caveman-like grunt. He stopped and turned.

“Dude, at least take off your shoes.”

Jensen blindly lifted a hand from the bed and flipped the bird at him before dropping it back down and shoving it under the pillow.

Jared grinned. “Asshole,” he muttered without any heat.

“‘M tired, Jay.”

Jared frowned. He’d at least expected a better retort than that.

 

Jensen had been a little off as of late, a little quieter than usual. It wasn’t anything anyone other than Jared would really notice; that could possibly be attributed to the fact that they were in each other’s pockets almost as much as Sam and Dean Winchester were. Jared hadn’t prodded, though, his baser self telling him it wasn’t his place to pry. However, that didn’t mean he didn’t have his suspicions; he had seen the signs recently, both on set and off. Jensen and his beta Danneel were having trouble—and Jensen, being Jensen, hadn’t said a word.

It pained Jared to see his friend hurting like he was, but he didn’t know how to approach Jensen on the matter. Instead, he just left him alone—Jensen knew Jared was there for him; if he wanted to talk, he’d talk. But there was another reason Jared gave Jensen a bit of space. It was spelled out in five letters: _G.U.I.L.T._

The potential end of Jensen’s relationship with Danneel—making the untouchable _touchable_ —opened a door Jared had sworn he’d never step through. _They_ would never— _could never_ —happen, not in this lifetime. Jared had chosen his path long ago and now he had to live with the consequences no matter how tempted he might be. If the truth of things were to ever come out, he’d lose everything, including his best friend. The lies were too deeply rooted.

Only two people aside from Jared’s immediate family and his physician knew the truth, not about Jared’s feelings toward Jensen, but of what lay beneath the lie Jared lived every single day of his life: Chad, Jared’s long-time “partner-in-crime” (and only because Chad was one nosy-ass bastard, even if he did mean well), and Gen, Jared’s “girlfriend-in-crime.”

Since the very first day he’d met Gen, Jared had known the beta was whip-smart. She was also stunning, charismatic, outspoken, loved football, and was just plain fun to be around; they’d become instant friends. Jared, not being the sharpest pencil in the box when it came to certain things, hadn’t seen it coming.

Jensen had flown down to LA one weekend last summer to visit Danneel. With Jared’s house empty, he and Gen had decided to make it a movie night. They had watched _The Goonies,_ one of Jared’s favorites. Cheese popcorn was strewn all over the couch, the floor, and them since Gen had declared war on Jared for eating the last slice of pepperoni pizza. At some point, the beta had tackled Jared and, after a bit wrestling and more than a little tickling (yeah, so what, Jared was ticklish), had ended up straddling him on the floor. Faces just inches apart, hot breaths mingling together, Gen had leaned down and… kissed him.

She’d sat back up almost instantly, knees still to either side of Jared’s hips, and had just stared down at him with a shrewd eye, enough that Jared had begun to squirm under the weight of her scrutiny. “You’re… Jared, you’re an _omega_?” she’d whispered in awed disbelief. And Jared had, for the first time in his life, found himself completely and utterly speechless. He’d rolled his bottom lip in between his teeth and knew apprehension had shone in his eyes. All Gen had done was smile warmly at him. “Jared, no. Don’t be like that.” She’d cupped the side of his cheek with her hand, slender thumb trailing softly along his cheekbone. “You know me. I won’t tell anyone,” she’d calmly assured him.

It wasn’t that Jared disliked what he was—part of the rare 2% (well, actually even more rare than that being that he was male) of the population… an omega—it was nothing to be ashamed of, but he didn’t want it holding him back either. He wanted to be known and respected and loved for _who_ he was, not _what_ he was.

Omegas weren’t discriminated against. As a matter of fact, it was the exact opposite. They were revered, so much so that they were handled with kid gloves; they were treated as if they were fragile, breakable. Jared wasn’t some delicate, little flower and he refused to be treated like one, hence the lie that he’d chosen to live by—Hollywood was tough enough as it was. For all intents and purposes, he was an alpha. The only reminder of the truth was in the little, white pill he took every night when he went to bed. (Oh, and he didn’t have a knot.)

Most supps on the market were your basic heat suppressants, but Jared had taken it one step further. He was on what were known in the pharmaceutical world as “E-Supps”, the E standing for _enhanced_. Not only were they heat suppressants, but they also contained enough synthesized alpha pheromones that Jared’s natural omega scent was washed out under a mild scent of alpha, enough that he was able to pass himself off as an alpha. They were costly (nearly ten bucks a pop), but well worth the money he doled out on them if it meant keeping his secret safe.

It was because of those pills—or rather Jared’s forgetfulness to take one single pill—that Gen had found him out. She’d scented him when she’d gotten as close as she had that evening, his omega scent bleeding through as a result of Jared missing his supp the night before. It had been a very late Fraturday shoot… as in, the sun had actually been rising by the time the director had called it a wrap. He’d been so exhausted, mentally and physically, when he’d gotten home that morning that he’d crashed and had fallen asleep before realizing he’d forgotten to take his pill; it had been noon by the time he’d woken up. It was something he rarely did, missing a pill. He could probably count on one hand the amount of times he’d done that since he’d started taking supps. It was his own fault.

Gen had kept her promise; she was loyal through and through. And somehow, their friendship had evolved into what they had now, a pseudo-relationship. If asked, Jared would point the finger at the beta; it had all been her idea. She wasn’t with anyone and was concentrating on her career, so it wasn’t hurting anything. Every now and then, she’d spend the night with Jared at his house (sharing his bed… and yes it included, from time to time, the benefits that came with that) to make their act more believable, but she still had her own place, both in Vancouver and in LA. All they had to do was play the part of a typical alpha/beta pairing. It was almost too easy, and Jared’s towering and muscular physique (rare for an omega) helped complete the picture. To this day, no one suspected a thing.

Not even Jensen.

 

Jared didn’t reply to Jensen’s mumbled words. Instead, he tossed his clothes in the direction of his bags and then grabbed Jensen’s left foot. He unlaced the heavy work boot (Dean’s probably), gently pried it off, and dropped it to the floor where it landed with a soft thud before he reached for Jensen’s other foot.

Jared glanced at Jensen as he dropped the second shoe to the floor. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to come clean with Jensen, but the time had never been right. After a while, it just seemed like it was too late to bring it up. It was no longer Jared being scared of what Jensen would think if he found out Jared was an omega, but rather that the man, his best friend, would feel betrayed. _Oh, by the way, Jen, you’re my best friend, but—surprise!—I’ve been lying to your face for the last four years. Can you ever forgive me?_ Yeah, he didn’t think that would go over too well. Better to keep things status quo than to upset the boat.

Jared quietly got up and walked back to his bed. Just as he was climbing under the covers, he heard, “You did good out there, man.”

The praise from the alpha warmed Jared and he smiled as he pulled the blankets over himself.

“Thanks, Jen.”

A soft snore was his only answer.

Tomorrow morning, they would go their separate ways: Jared would go back to his home in LA and Jensen would see Danneel for the first time in… god, how long? Jared frowned. Jensen hadn’t seen Danneel since the winter hiatus.


	2. Chapter 2

 

_March 31, 2009 | Jared’s LA Residence | 8:49pm_

 

Jared’s cell phone was ringing. He muted the television as he reached over to pick it up. He answered the call when he saw Jensen’s name come up on the caller ID.

“Hey.” He glanced at Gen who was out cold at the other end of the couch. She’d fallen asleep halfway through the movie they’d been watching. Jared couldn’t blame her; it _was_ pretty bad. When it came to movies, RomComs were really hit or miss—and this one had definitely been a miss.

“You, uh, got a minute?” Jensen asked without greeting.

“Sure. Not a heck of a lot going on here. What’s up?”

“We got about three weeks before we gotta be in Sydney, right?”

“Yeah…” Something told Jared that his plan for some plentiful R&R was about to be nixed in three… two…

“D’you think Gen would mind if we—you and me—went on a little trip before then? My treat.”

Huh. The two of them going on vacation together wasn’t anything new—they did it quite a lot—but to cram it in between two conventions and just after they’d finished filming wasn’t their usual thing.

Jared looked at Gen. The beta shifted slightly in her sleep. He got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen where he leaned up against the granite countertop so he wouldn’t bother her.

“What did you have in mind?” He rinsed out the lone glass that was in the sink and put it on the rack to dry.

There was no answer on the other end of the line, but Jared could hear Jensen taking a deep drag off a cigarette. That wasn’t good. Jensen wasn’t a smoker, not unless he was out with friends and already had a few beers under his belt.

“Jen?”

“Yeah?”

“Y’okay?”

“‘M fine.”

“Don’t lie.”

“‘M not.” There was a pause. Jared remained quiet, waiting. He could hear traffic in the background; Jensen was probably out on his balcony. Then Jared heard a sigh. He braced himself for whatever Jensen was about to say. “I’ve had to… make some hard decisions these last couple days. But really, I’m fine,” Jensen repeated sounding like he was trying to reassure himself more than Jared. “I just need to get away for a little while.”

There was another long, steady inhale and a soft exhale. Jared could imagine the delicate wisps of smoke curling up into the air from Jensen’s plush lips as he leaned over the brushed-steel railing and looked west across the nighttime cityscape.

“Is Danni there?” He had to ask.

“No.” The word was said so quietly, Jared almost didn’t hear it.

“Jen, do you want me to come over?” was all Jared could think to say. If Jensen didn’t want to talk, that was fine. They could order some Thai, have a couple beers, binge-watch the _Die Hard_ movies…

“You haven't answered my question.”

…or maybe not.

“Yeah. I mean, no. No, she won’t mind. What did you have in mind?”

“I just need some fresh air, you know?”

“Okay. Yeah, whatever you need, Jen.” Maybe Jensen just wanted to take a trip back home. They were both due. It had been a while since they’d been to Texas to see their families.

“I’ll be by Thursday morning to pick you up. I’ll take care of the rest. Just be ready.”

“Thursday? Uh, yeah, okay. Sure…” That gave him what was left of tonight and tomorrow to get his things packed. But like he said, he would do whatever Jensen needed him to do.

“Make sure you bring your passport,” Jensen spoke over him as if Jared hadn’t said anything. _Okay, that knocked Texas off the possible list of destinations._ “Oh, and bring a good pair of hiking boots and clothes for hot weather. We’ll be gone for a week or so.”

“Or so?” Jared repeated. “You’ve planned a vacation and don’t know when we’ll be back?” He lifted an eyebrow. “Where exactly are we going?”

“Somewhere out of the way, off the beaten path, Jay,” Jensen replied cryptically.

Before Jared could ask anything more, Jensen had hung up. He was left with his mouth hanging open on the questions that were left unasked.

Jared stared at his now silent phone. _What. The. Hell?_ He wasn’t mad—nothing like that—rather, he was confused. Wait, strike that. He was concerned. A second later, Jared found himself dialing Jensen’s number. The phone rang twice and then went to voicemail.

“You’ve reached me. You know what to do.” _Beep._

“Jen, dammit, pick up your phone.”

Jared disconnected the call. His thumb hovered over the screen with the intent to text Jensen. But what was he going to say? Then, it came to him. He typed one word.

Jared smiled because he knew Jensen would get the meaning.

A full minute later, his phone chirped.

_“bitch”_

Jared’s smile widened. Jensen would be okay. That one simple word was enough to tell him Jensen would be all right. And if an impromptu trip was something Jensen needed, then Jared would go along with it. Jensen had probably just made plans to fly to some tropical island or maybe some villa in rural Europe, somewhere he could lie low for a while and gather his thoughts.

Gen was still asleep when he returned to the living room. She looked too comfortable to disturb. Jared pulled an old, blue-and-white afghan off the back of the couch and laid it over her petite figure before heading into the bedroom. He had a lot to do tomorrow and he was going to have to get some rest.

~ * ~

_April 2, 2009 | Jared’s LA Residence | 5:04am_

 

Jared’s doorbell rang. He was still half asleep, but he was up, showered, and dressed; that had to count for something, right? He ran his fingers through his still wet hair as he went to answer the door. He hadn’t talked to Jensen since the other night and was still in the dark about their destination. The only reason he knew to be ready for five o’clock was because Jensen had sent him a text yesterday afternoon.

Jensen was smiling when he opened the door. His friend couldn’t fool him though. Being a—and Jared used the term loosely— _former_ model, Jensen always paid close attention to his appearance. But not today. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked a little rough around the edges. (The strawberry-blond stubble along his jawline might have had something to do with that, not that Jared was complaining.) Jensen just wasn’t as well put together like he usually was.

“Ready?” Jensen asked as he practically shoved a large Starbucks cup into Jared’s hand.

“For you to kidnap me and bring me to some foreign lands? Sure.”

Jared popped the top of his coffee open and sniffed the contents. His eyes nearly rolled up into his head at the heavenly aroma and he knew the noises coming from him bordered on the obscene. He took a sip and instantly felt his body start to wake up. God, he could kiss the man right now… literally.

“Kidnappers don’t usually bring you coffee… or give you two days to pack your shit and get ready.”

“ _One_ day,” Jared corrected under his breath. He took another sip of coffee.

Jensen stepped around him and settled an asscheek on one of Jared’s barstools at the breakfast bar. He hitched a heel up on one of the rungs making himself comfortable. “You got your gear? We’ve got a plane to catch and I don’t think it’s gonna wait for us just because you decided to spend some happy time with your coffee.”

Jared followed him, but veered off down the hallway toward his bedroom to retrieve his duffel and backpack. “Ha! Is that jealousy I hear, Ackles? Don’t worry, you got me all to yourself for a whole week… or so,” he called back over his shoulder.

When he entered the bedroom, it was still semi-dark from the blinds that were pulled. The few golden streaks of morning sunlight that were able to sneak in through the cracks were spread over Gen where she lay wrapped up in a cocoon of blankets. He knew she was awake having only talked to her just minutes before the doorbell had rung.

“We’re heading out. You good?” He set his coffee down on the nightstand and pulled the covers down so he could see Gen’s face.

Her deep brown eyes opened and she smiled up at him. For a brief moment, Jared allowed himself to just look at her. If things were different, if he truly had been an alpha, he could see himself claiming the woman who was nestled comfortably in his bed. She was everything an alpha could ask for in a beta. And life would be so much less complicated.

“Of course, I’m good, Jay. You two just go enjoy yourselves. Whatever it is he has planned, you know you’ll have a good time.”

Jared leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. “Sometimes, that’s what worries me.” He gave a weak smile as he stood back up and picked up his coffee again. A week all alone with Jensen was going to wreak havoc on his personal temptations. “I guess I’ll see you in a week. I’ll call you when I can.”

As he was grabbing a baseball hat and a pair of sunglasses from his bureau, Gen called out to him.

“Jare Bear?”

Jared turned around. “Yeah?”

She gave him a gentle smile. “Are you going to be okay doing this? I mean, I know how you feel about Jensen. And if you’re right about him and Danni, he’s an unattached alpha now and the omega in you is going to sense that, even on the supps. I know you’re worried; I can see it in your eyes.”

Jared pursed his lips. Gen could always read him too easily. Then again, so could Jensen. “I’ll be fine,” he said, hoping it was more truth than empty reassurance, as he pulled his hat down onto his head, hat head be damned. “Look, I’ve gotta go. The plane…” He slung his backpack over his shoulder and picked up his duffel.

“You know, it wouldn’t be the worst thing…”

Gen gave a resigned sigh when Jared just clenched his teeth and gave her an are-you-for-real look.

“Okay. Fine,” she waved him off. “Forget I said anything. Just… call me when you land so I know you got there in one piece.”

Jared nodded. “I will. Love you,” he said before turning to the door again and reaching for the knob.

“Love ya back, Jay.”

He left the room and closed the door behind him. He found Jensen where he’d left him when he got back to the kitchen. The other man looked up from where he was concentrating on his phone, the deep furrow of his brow lifting when he saw Jared.

“Ready?” he asked as he pocketed the device.

“Lead on, Macduff.”

Jensen hopped off the barstool and strolled down the hallway to the front door, Jared following at his back.

“So, when are you gonna tell me where we’re going?” Jared asked as they stepped out onto the stoop and Jared took a minute to lock the front door.

“Patience, my young Padawan. You’ll find out soon enough.”

Jared playfully shoved Jensen causing the other man to chuckle as they headed down the brick walkway to Jensen’s black SUV. Jared waited for him to open the trunk and then tossed his bags in beside Jensen’s. He secretly looked to see if there was anything in the vehicle that hinted at where they were going. There was nothing. No golf clubs. No fishing gear. Nothing but a duffel and a backpack.

Minutes later, they were on the highway heading toward LAX. Jensen was quiet. Jared was fidgety. After playing with the radio (he’d only stopped because Jensen had slapped his hand away from the controls), he reached out and popped the glove compartment open. On top of the miscellany of papers and napkins, he saw plane tickets. He grinned.

Before Jensen could do anything, Jared had them out, eyes scanning the tickets. He spotted their destination just before Jensen managed to snatch the tickets from him.

“Peru? Jen, Peru?” he repeated in disbelief as he looked from the tickets to Jensen. “Seriously?”

Well, if Jensen wanted to get away, Jared guessed that was definitely the place to do it.

“Man, way to ruin the surprise, Mr. Grabby Hands.” Jensen reached over and smacked him in the back of the head. “And yes, Peru.”

“What the hell’s in Peru?”

All Jared could think of was Machu Picchu—and a whole lot of jungle.

Jensen’s cheeks flushed. For the alpha that he was, it was rare to see.

“I’ll explain the details later, but we’re going on a… sort of a treasure hunt.”

Jared arched his brow. “Yeah? Since when do _you_ , Jensen Ackles, like to go hiking through the jungle looking for treasure? Who do you think you are, Jack T. Colton?” Jared snickered at his joke.

Jensen cut a look at him from across the car; Jared couldn’t see his eyes because of the dark sunglasses he wore. Jensen didn’t say anything, not at first—but then he grinned before looking back at the road ahead of them. “Yeah, that’s it… _Just Jared_.”

Jared snorted. He had one hundred percent set himself up for that one. Jensen knew those movies too well; _Romancing the Stone_ was one of Jensen’s guilty pleasures and its sequel followed closely behind. “Fuck you, man. Anyway, I think I’d make a better Jack. You scream like a girl and climb to higher ground when you see a spider.”

“I do not.”

“Do, too.”

“Do not.”

“Do, too.”

“All right, all right,” Jensen finally conceded. Yeah, Jared had him on that one and Jensen knew it. “That was one time, _one_ time.” He held his index finger up in the air. “But can you blame me? You saw it. That big, hairy-ass thing could’ve eaten a friggin’ bird for Christ’s sake. And it looked hungry.”

“Okay. I’ll give you that one.” Jared had to admit, the spider had been quite the beast with its long, hairy legs and beady, black eyes staring up at them from the corner of the kitchen floor. (No one had to know they’d called Danneel to get rid of it.) He wondered if Jensen had even thought about the size of the spiders—and the snakes and the lizards and everything else—that were in the jungle.

A low-flying jet rumbled by overhead. Jared leaned forward in his seat, seatbelt stretching, as his eyes tracked its descent. No matter how many planes he’d been on in his life, a number he’d lost count of years ago, he was still a kid at heart when it came to watching them taking off and landing.

When the plane disappeared from sight and Jared sat back in his seat, Jensen glanced over at him again with a mischievous smile.

Jared frowned. “What?” He reflexively looked down at his shirt to see if he’d spilled something on himself in his earlier haste to be ready for when Jensen picked him up.

“You take longer to get ready in the morning—and Clif will vouch for me—so that ultimately makes you the girl in this relationship.”

Jared balked. “I do not.” And really, did Jensen have to use the word _relationship_?

“Yes, you do.”

And so they began again much to Jared’s amusement.

Twenty minutes later, they stepped through the front doors of LAX. Jared pulled the brim of his baseball cap further down over his face and adjusted his sunglasses. The disguise helped, but his height always ended up giving him away anyway. Jensen was hidden behind his own cap and glasses. Not surprisingly, though, they didn’t even make it halfway to the check-in counter before they were spotted by the paparazzi who always seemed to be camped out no matter what time of day it was—and then fans caught on.

And damn. It wasn’t even 6:00am yet.

Jared plastered on a smile. (He really did enjoy interacting with his fans. They were, after all, what kept him in a job.) He signed a few autographs and posed for several pictures. Jensen did the same.

Jared glanced over at Jensen as the crowd began to thin out and he was able to breathe again. “Did I mention you’re buying me dinner tonight?”

Jensen chuckled as he finally stepped up to the counter and began the process of checking in. They checked their bags and traded their tickets in for boarding passes. In less than a half hour, they’d made their way through security and were seated in the hard, plastic chairs (Jensen in a blue one; Jared in a yellow one) at their gate. The seats were so small that they were nearly touching from shoulder to knee.

 Jared looked up at the digital screen on the wall, his eyes scanning the arrival and departure times. He did the math in his head allowing for the time zone differences. It was roughly an eight and a half hour flight to Lima and then, according to Jensen, they had a connecting flight (another two hours) to Iquitos, a city that rested on the edge of the Amazon River.

And they were going on a treasure hunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reference to "Jack T. Colton" and "Just Joan" come from the classic 20th Century Fox films _Romancing the Stone_ (1984) and _The Jewel of the Nile_ (1985) starring Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas, and Danny DeVito. I highly recommend watching them if you haven't.


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

 _April 2, 2009_ _| Flight LA2605 (LAX to LIM) | 10:27am (PST – Pacific Standard Time)_

 

Jared glanced at his watch. It was just shy of 10:30am. They still had five and a half hours to go before they landed in Lima at approximately 6:24pm Peru Time, the equivalent of Eastern Standard Time in the United States.

Beside him, Jensen was comfortably kicked back in his seat with the brim of his hat pulled low over his eyes and was dozing. (Jensen always was an avid sleeper on planes, a trait Jared was mildly jealous of.) There was nothing of interest on the small television and Jared had already eaten all the peanuts and chips the flight attendant had given him. 

For the past twenty minutes, Jared had felt his own eyelids growing heavy; having been up since four o’clock this morning was definitely taking its toll on him. He was bored, restless, and tired. Not a good combination when stuck on a plane.

He looked out the window to his right—Jensen had given him the window seat without much ado—and squinted at the bright white of the cumulus clouds drifting below them. In between the billowy tufts, he could see the dark cobalt of the Pacific Ocean stretching out far and wide into the distance. He stifled a yawn, feeling his ears pop as he did, and then shifted trying to get more comfortable in his seat.

“You okay over there, Sasquatch?” Jensen’s voice was gruff and scratchy with sleep. The alpha tilted his head so he could see Jared, one green eye peeking up at him from under his hat.

“Yeah. Just… my ass is numb and I’m tired.”

“Well, I can’t do anything about your ass,” Jensen smirked—the look caused an involuntary shiver to race through Jared and he swallowed tightly; he really didn’t need Jensen talking about his ass—as he turned more toward Jared and looked at him full on, “but c’mere.” He reached over and tugged the sleeve of Jared’s t-shirt as he tilted his head gesturing for Jared to come closer, to use his shoulder as a pillow. “It’s the best I got.”

Jared didn’t move. His eyes flicked between the black cotton of Jensen’s sleeve and the deep emerald of his eyes.

“I’m not gonna bite. Just get comfy, dude.” He glanced at his own watch. “Still got a few hours ahead of us. We might as well get the rest while we can.” He settled back into his seat and resumed his previous position. When Jared still didn’t move, Jensen gave Jared one of those looks. “Don’t make me make you.” Whether Jensen knew he was doing it or not, there was an undercurrent of Alpha there and Jared couldn’t deny the order, even if it was playful.

Jared reached over and pulled the shade to the window down and then shifted so he was sitting a little more diagonally in his seat. He stretched his long legs out as much as he could, crossed his arms over his chest, and then carefully rested his head on the other man’s shoulder. He could do this. No problem at all. Nope.

Almost immediately, the alpha’s scent wrapped around him like a soft, warm blanket. He breathed deeply soaking up the exquisite scent that was all Jensen, all alpha. If only he could have this every night were his last thoughts as he drifted off to sleep.

~ * ~

 _April 2, 2009_ _| Jorge Chávez International Airport, Lima, Peru | 7:47pm (PET – Peru Time)_

 

There was a ninety minute layover and they had taken up residence at one of the common area tables outside the Starbucks which was conveniently located inside the airport.

Although Jared had never been to Peru, he’d been to Brazil so it wasn’t that much of a culture shock. And thankfully most of the signs situated around the airport were in both Spanish and English. Jared could maybe get by with just the Spanish—hey, he paid attention in high school Spanish class… once in a while, and Jensen knew his fair share as well—but the English just made everything all that much easier.

Having already phoned Gen to let her know they had landed safely, Jared was now taking advantage of the airport’s free Wi-Fi since there was no guarantee that they would have any type of cell reception/internet access once they got to Iquitos. The “Capital of the Peruvian Amazon,” as it was known, was only accessible one of two ways: boat or plane. Enough said.

“Hey, what’s the name of the expedition company you went through?”

Jensen looked up from where he was playing _KamiCrazy,_ a new and popular game that he’d recently become addicted to—it reminded Jared of the old platform game, _Lemmings_ —on his iPhone. “Huh?”

“There are like a hundred expedition companies down here. Which one did you go through?” Jared repeated.

Jensen took a minute to remember the name of the company, but as he did, his gaze fell on something over Jared’s shoulder and lingered there for a fraction of a second too long. Curiosity piqued, Jared looked to see what had distracted his friend.

The person was too far away for Jared to catch their scent (his sense of smell was no longer as sharp as it once was, a side-effect of the supps he took), but Jensen would have scented them almost instantly. It was an omega. The only way Jared was able to tell was because they were very pregnant, and very _male_.

“EcoAdventures,” Jensen replied as he brought his attention back to Jared. “They, uh, had good reviews and the packages were pretty sweet.” He picked up his coffee and finished off the now lukewarm contents, but Jared could tell he was still distracted.

“It’s just an omega,” he commented. “There are a few of them out there, you know… something like a hundred million or so.” Of that hundred million, only about twenty million where men, a fact Jared knew quite well.

Jensen lifted a brow at him and smirked. “Really, Professor? I would have never guessed.”

_Smartass._

Jared balled up his napkin and threw it at Jensen; it hit him square in the chest and fell into his lap. “You’re such an idiot, man.”

“And you’re an oversized manboy.”

“Manboy?” Jared all but cackled causing a few passersby to look in their direction.

“Yup.” Jensen grinned as he adjusted his baseball cap. He nodded to Jared’s phone. “So, you were asking about the expedition company. Just look for the big, purple monkey and you’ll find their site,” he said before he settled back into playing his game.

“Yeah, okay… big, purple monkey. Leave it to you to find a company who has _Grape Ape_ as its mascot.”

Jensen looked back up, left eyebrow raised. “How the hell do you even know who that is?”

Jared shrugged and gave a somewhat embarrassed smile. “Cartoon Network.”

“See? Manboy. I always said you were like five.” Jensen chuckled and then went back to his ridiculous game.

Jared just shook his head— _pot, meet kettle_ —before going back to his own phone to search out the company Jensen had mentioned. He found the site without much effort and, sure enough, there was a big, purple cartoon monkey in the top corner _. Maybe Grape Ape’s cousin… twice removed._

He began to peruse the company’s website. Like Jensen had said, they had decent reviews. They were a fairly new company, only established in 2002, but what they had that, it seemed, none of the other typical expedition companies had was the _AdventureQuest_ package.

Jared gawked when he saw the outrageous price that was attached to the package. He already had a decent idea of what their round-trip flight from LA to Peru had cost, but to add this on top of that? Christ, things must’ve gotten really bad between Jensen and Danneel for him to drop that kind of cash.

Jared glanced up at Jensen. The other man must have sensed him because he looked up from his phone.

“Problem finding it?”

“No. I found it. But, Jen… I could’ve helped pay for this.” Jared felt kind of guilty letting Jensen foot the entire bill. It wasn’t like Jensen would go broke—Jared knew how much Jensen took home; it was in their contract with the network that they be paid the same—but it was the principle of it.

“Don’t. I already told you, my treat.” Jensen tucked his phone into the front pocket of his jeans and stood up. He stretched, arching his back, and groaned. “Hey, I gotta go take a leak before they call our flight. You gotta?”

Jared shook his head. “Nah. I’m good.” The last thing Jared needed was to be within a few feet of Jensen as the man unzipped his pants and pulled out his bare cock.

Jensen nodded and headed off to the bathrooms at the entrance to the food court. Jared absolutely did not watch him walk off; he completely ignored that bow-legged gait and fine, denim-clad ass.

After Jensen disappeared from sight, Jared thumbed over the link to the AdventureQuest package to see what the next week had in store for them. The “Grand & Exciting Adventure of a Lifetime” that the package boasted of broke down into three parts. The first two consisted of a day-long boat ride up the Amazon River and then a guided hike into the jungle where they were promised to see an “expansive array of local flora and fauna”—Jared was glad he had thought to bring his camera. It was the last part, scheduled for the third day, where the real “adventure” began. Jared took his time reading over the details to see what Jensen had signed them up for. The whole thing looked as if it was going to be physically demanding, but they were both in pretty decent shape, so it shouldn’t be that much of a hardship for them.

When Jensen returned a few minutes later, another coffee in hand, Jared asked, “So, which one of us gets the map?”

“Me, of course,” Jensen said as he settled back down into his seat.

Jared lifted a brow and snorted. “When was the last time you actually used a compass?”

“When was the last time you did?” Jensen bounced back. Jared couldn’t answer that. Jensen had him cornered and he knew it. “It’s like riding a bike; we’ll figure it out.” He pealed the tab on his coffee lid back and took a slow sip.

“Hey, what do you think Krip would do if he knew what we were up to? Have you read this disclaimer?” He raised his phone and pointed to the screen. Under his finger was a page-long disclaimer. Summarized, it basically said that no one would hold the company liable if something were to happen while out in the wilds of the rainforest—Jared figured their definition of “something” was getting eaten by a jaguar or getting strangled by a giant anaconda. Below that, it stated that anyone participating in the AdventureQuest package must be at least eighteen years of age and must also sign release forms stating that they were in good health. “The man practically has a coronary every time we go skiing.”

Jensen laughed. “Can you blame him? That spill you took last year… Shit, you’re lucky you didn’t break something.”

Jared chewed at the inside of his cheek. Yeah, he may or may not have ended up at the clinic at the ski lodge where, thankfully, the diagnosis had only been a mild sprain and a bruised shoulder. Kripke hadn’t been too happy when they’d come back from their winter hiatus, Jared barely being able to hide the limp in his step.

“Anyway,” Jensen looked Jared in the eye, tongue darting out to retrieve an errant drop of coffee resting on his lip; Jared’s eyes subconsciously followed to the movement and then returned to meet Jensen’s eyes, “we’ll be fine. You just read that.” He gestured to Jared’s phone with his chin. “We’re never going to be completely alone. The guides will always be around. They’re just gonna hang back—outta sight, outta mind—so it feels like we’re doing this all on our own. It’s all just for fun. Hell, there are probably marked trails for us to follow, Point A to Point B to ‘X marks the spot’ and the most dangerous animal out there is a monkey.”

Jared nodded. “Yeah. You’re probably right.” This was a tourist attraction. The scales were sure to be tipped in the balance of safety more than anything. He looked back down at his phone and changed tabs in his browser.

A few silent minutes passed as Jensen worked through his second coffee and people watched and Jared continued his research of the area they were going to spend the next week (or so) in, something he hadn’t been able to do prior to the flight since he hadn’t known where they were going.

“Hey, how much did you read up on the weather down here?” He looked up at Jensen again.

Jensen shrugged. “Enough. It’s the jungle. It’s gonna be hot.”

Jared almost laughed out loud. “Hot? Try almost consistent ninety-plus degree temps with a dew point of no less than seventy percent… more near eighty percent during the day.” If they made it through a week in the jungle, it would be a miracle. Heat, humidity, rain…

For a split second, Jensen’s eyes widened, but he blinked and looked away, fingers coming up to scratch at the shadow of stubble along his jaw-line. “Okay, really hot,” he mumbled.

Jared smiled.

“ _Vuelo 359 a Iquitos ahora embarque_ ,” the loud speaker called out overhead. It was then repeated in English: “ _Flight 359 to Iquitos now boarding_.”

“That’s our cue.” Jensen pushed his chair back and stood up. He was quick to grab his backpack and throw his coffee cup in the garbage leaving a grinning Jared in his wake.


	4. Chapter 4

 

 _April 2, 2009 | Col FAP Francisco Secada Vignetta Int’l Airport, Iquitos, Peru_ _|_ _11:35pm_

 

They had landed.

They were finally here.

Iquitos.

The Capital of the Peruvian Amazon.

And Jesus-fucking-Christ was it hot… humid… muggy. Oppressive was the word that came to mind. Jared and Jensen were used to the chill of Vancouver; their bodies weren’t even close to being accustomed to these kinds of conditions. One step out of the air-conditioned airport and Jared’s shirt was already clinging uncomfortably to his skin. He tried to avoid looking at how Jensen’s t-shirt clung to the broad expanse of his shoulders delineating the solid muscle of his back as he moved to hitch his backpack up higher and adjusted his grip on his duffel.

“Fuck” was all Jensen said.

Outside the airport were dozens of rickshaws (more commonly known as motokars to the locals) their taxistas all vying for the attention of those looking for transport to their hotels or elsewhere.

Several immediately approached Jared and Jensen and whatever they were saying, even with bits of broken English thrown in for their benefit, was lost in the chaos of loud voices and the general ruckus that surrounded them.

Jared felt himself subconsciously drifting closer to Jensen as the scent of too many unknown alphas in close proximity started to overwhelm him. He leaned over so he could speak into Jensen’s ear. “Just pick one of ‘em.”

Jensen looked at him and then back at the men surrounding them. Jared could practically hear his friend doing “eeny, meeny, miney, moe” in his head. The alpha suddenly made eye contact with one of the men and nodded. The young man grinned and relieved them of their duffels; the others simply went off in pursuit of other quarry.

The rickshaw was more of a motorized, three-wheeled bike with a wide, padded bench seat on the back for passengers. They climbed in after making sure their bags were properly secured in the back, both grinning at how tight the fit was for two men of their stature. Jared found himself hard-pressed for room, his whole right side firmly pressed against Jensen’s left. There were worse places to find oneself, he mused.

The taxista turned around and spoke to Jensen. Jared noted that he spoke better English than the other taxistas had; it was probably the reason Jensen had picked him out from the others. He listed off hotels, various other destinations, and the prices for each; they ranged anywhere from five to twenty soles.

“El Dorado Plaza Hotel,” Jensen told him ignoring all the other options.

“I give you deal. Twelve soles.”

Negotiating prices was expected down here as haggling was common practice, but it was late and all they wanted to do was get to the hotel. Jared knew the amount was higher than what they could’ve gotten the man down to, but Jensen accepted the price with a quick, “Yeah, that’s fine.”

The taxista gave them a broad, toothy smile and turned to start up the vehicle. It sputtered and the man gave it some throttle until the hum of the small engine smoothed out. A moment later, they were pulling out into the busy flow of traffic. The breeze as they began to travel down the road was a relief to feel against Jared’s sweaty skin.

Jared leaned into Jensen so he could be heard over the noise of the city. “How far is it to the hotel?”

Jensen was pulling his t-shirt away from where it clung to his chest and grimacing. Jared knew how he felt. Jared sweat like it was nobody’s business on a regular basis, but this was a whole other level. Just wait until the peak of day, Jared thought wryly. This was going to feel like a spring breeze.

“Something like six miles, maybe a half hour in this thing?”

Jared sat back to enjoy the ride. He watched the scenery pass by them as their rickshaw made its way through the city. There was still quite a bit of traffic about—foot, bike, bus, other rickshaws—considering the time of day. To either side of them were motokars so close that Jared could practically reach out and shake their neighbors’ hands. He had no idea where so many people had to go this late at night, but then again, it was a city even if it was in the middle of the Amazon jungle.

Iquitos had character. The air around them was full of smells: exotic foods, sweat, exhaust, the distant jungle, and age-old rivers. The buildings they passed ranged from one extreme to the other: mud huts on the outskirts and European-inspired historical buildings the closer they got to the city’s center. They were nowhere near the river, but Jared knew there were rustic stilt houses (built to avoid the floodwaters of the Amazon) down by the water in the less well-to-do areas. It was like two cultures had collided and this was the result. It might not be Vancouver or LA, but that didn’t make it any less for what it was. Jared kind of liked it.

“So… Iquitos. It’s different,” Jared observed out loud. “How’d you decide to come here?”

Jared looked over at Jensen when he didn’t reply right away. The man seemed distant, lost in his own thoughts, probably thinking of what he’d left behind in LA: a broken relationship.

“I don’t know,” Jensen finally replied, seemingly coming back to the present. “It just seemed like a good place.”

Jared’s brow furrowed. He hoped Jensen knew what he’d been doing when he decided to come here, thousands of miles from home. “You okay?”

“I will be.” Jensen cracked a smile a second later. “Hey, d’you think Misha would like one of these classy get-ups,” he gestured to the motokar, “for his thirty-fifth birthday?”

Jared knew what this was: Jensen Ackles smoothly changing the subject.

Jared allowed himself to grin—he might not have been thrilled about Jensen dodging him, but the idea of Misha driving one of the motokars _was_ pretty damn funny when he thought about it; he could picture it very clearly in his mind’s eye.

“Just don’t expect me to get in while he’s driving.”

~*~

 _April 3, 2009_ _| El Dorado Plaza Hotel - Iquitos, Peru | 12:12am_

 

It was a little after midnight by the time they reached the hotel. The driver offered— _firmly offered_ —to accompany them inside, but they both knew he was just trying to get a commission from the hotel which would then be added to Jensen’s tab. (Jared and Jensen weren’t exactly green when it came to traveling abroad.) Jensen firmly turned him down much to the taxista’s dismay… but he did give him a decent tip which the guy happily accepted.

They picked up their bags and crossed the sidewalk to the front door of the hotel. When they pushed through the doors, a burst of cool air hit them. It felt like Heaven after the humidity of the outdoors and Jared sighed with relief.

“Now this is more like it,” Jensen remarked with more than a little enthusiasm. “Maybe we’ll just stay here for the week instead.”

“And everyone calls me the princess. Apparently, they don’t know you,” Jared teased as they headed toward the front desk.

Jensen turned around, continuing to walk backward as he did, and gave Jared a playful frown. “Remember, _Just Jared_ , you’re the one with the long flowing locks of hair.” He winked and spun on his heel again. “Dude, check out the fountain!”

They were walking past a large sitting area and the aforementioned fountain, but before Jared could comment, the concierge behind the counter was greeting them.

While Jensen took care of checking in, Jared left his bags on the floor next to Jensen’s and meandered over to the rack of tourist brochures that was in a small alcove; there was an ATM in there as well. He thumbed through the colorful pamphlets to see what Iquitos had to offer: expedition companies, zoos, a butterfly farm, the Carnaval (which he noted was held in February), the famous Belen Market, museums, bicycle tours, a golf course (god, he hoped Jensen didn’t see that), the Plaza de Armas, the Camiri (which Jared raised his brow at; it was a floating hotel), local restaurants, and so much more. For being so far out in the middle of nowhere, Iquitos had a little of everything.

Speaking of local restaurants… Jared’s stomach growled reminding him that he hadn’t eaten anything today except for some snacks on the plane and a chicken and avocado sandwich at the Starbucks in Lima. His eyes scanned the rack looking for something that wasn’t too foreign-sounding. He grinned when one particular flier caught his eye and he grabbed a copy. He read it over. He was in luck; they were still open.

Just as Jared pocketed the flier, Jensen stepped up beside him and handed him a key card.

“All set. The bellhop is already heading up with our stuff.”

They passed the man at the front desk and he bid them good night. They both thanked him and headed off to the bank of elevators at the far end of the lobby. Off to their left was a hallway with a sign directing guests to the pool and fitness center. To their right was small shop that sold souvenirs, snacks, and toiletry items which was currently closed.

“Hey, d’you think they have any good beer here?” Jared asked as they waited for the elevator to arrive.

“The room’s got a mini bar. But if that doesn’t have something you like, there’s a bar somewhere in the hotel, too.” Jensen looked around eyeing the signs, but the elevator pinged signaling its arrival and he pushed Jared into it ahead of him. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you set up, Conan.”

As they rode up to their floor in the elevator—Jensen had gotten a suite on the top floor away from the street-level noise—Jared snickered.

“What?” Jensen inquired, giving Jared a wary look. “Did you fart?” His nose wrinkled slightly.

“What? No.” Jared pulled out the flier he had found at the front desk and showed it to Jensen. “You hungry?”

Jensen laughed. “I fly your ass all the way to Peru and you want pizza. Really?”

~*~

“I’m gonna hit the shower. I stink, man.”

Jared tossed his baseball hat onto the night stand and dumped his bags onto his bed. He peeled out of his sweaty t-shirt scrunching up his nose when he got a whiff of himself—he was far from Irish Spring-fresh after their day of travel.

“I’ll get a call out for the food then.” Jensen had left his bags on the floor by the desk and was now standing at the window holding back the curtain so he could check out their view of the city below.

Speaking of views, Jensen looked pretty damn fine, the sleeves of his black t-shirt molding nicely to his biceps, the material stretching tightly across his back. Jared’s gaze was just moving from cotton to denim when Jensen spoke up again snapping Jared’s wandering eyes back up to less dangerous territory.

“Wow. You can see it from here.”

“What?” Jared crossed the room to join Jensen at the window, all the while silently cursing his traitorous mind for thinking the things it was. _What the hell is wrong_ — “Oh… wow.” His thoughts came to an instant standstill when he got to the window. Off in the distance, there was a wide, ink-black line snaking through the landscape: the Amazon River, the largest river in the world.

They were quiet for a few moments as they stood, shoulders nearly touching, the only sound in the room the air conditioner kicking on.

On both sides of the river, Jared could just make out the tops of trees for as far as the eye could see. “Wow,” he said again in awe. (His mom would be so proud of his extensive vocabulary.) He’d been to a lot of places, traveled far and wide, but the rainforest was uncharted territory for Jared… and for Jensen. “Shit, we better not get lost in that. They’ll never find us.” He grinned and looked at Jensen.

Jensen chuckled and shoulder bumped Jared causing Jared to stumble back a step. Jensen might be a couple inches shorter than Jared, but he had the extra alpha muscle to make up for it. “Lions, tigers, and bears… Oh, my!” Jensen teased as he left Jared at the window so he could check out the rest of the room.

“Bite me.”

“I won’t, but the bears might,” Jensen said as he peeked into the bathroom and then walked over to inspect the mini bar.

Jared turned and let the curtain fall back into place. “Dude, there aren’t any bears in the jungle.”

Jensen had a tiny bottle of some kind of liquor in this hand and was reading the label. “Okay, lions then,” he said as he traded one bottle for the next.

Jared smirked. “That’s Africa.”

Jensen returned the bottle to the fridge and stood up. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Tigers. The jungle’s got tigers… and don’t you dare tell me they don’t.”

Jared snorted as he went back to his things to pull out what he’d need for his shower. “Asia.”

“Seriously? No tigers?” Jensen looked at Jared, an expression of disbelief on his face.

Jared was still smiling. “Nope. They’ve got jaguars though. And like you mentioned earlier, monkeys, lots of monkeys.”

Jensen crossed the room to his bed and plopped down onto it with nothing even close to what could be considered grace. He crossed his legs at the ankle as he pulled his phone out and grabbed the pizza menu off the night stand. “Is there anything you don’t know everything about?” He dialed the phone and put it up to his ear. “Damn nerd.” Jensen was smiling, eyes glittering from the light in the corner of the room.

“But you love me.”

Jared ducked into the bathroom with a laugh just as a pillow hit the wall behind where he’d just been standing. He knew his friend was just screwing around with him. It was good to get a glimpse of the old Jensen again; it had been far too long since Jensen had smiled enough that the corners of his eyes crinkled. Jared had missed that.

Maybe this vacation would turn out to be a good thing he thought as he popped one of his supps out from its plastic and foil package.

~*~

Jared was content, belly full of pizza and some kind of Peruvian microbrew that they had ended up ordering from the bar downstairs. He looked at the clock from where he was stretched out on the bed. It was nearing 1:30am; it felt more like ten o’clock to Jared. He wasn’t tired and he knew it was going to kick him in the ass in the morning. Jensen had said they were supposed to be at the expedition company at 7:00am, a mere five and a half hours from now.

He was just sending off one last text message to Gen (the hotel did, in fact, have Wi-Fi) when the door to the bathroom opened. A cloud of steam billowed out into the room.

“Whew! That shower is awesome,” Jensen commented as he came back into the room, wet hair sticking up in spikes and dressed in a pair of navy blue sweat pants that hung low at his hips. “I am so gonna miss that for the next week.”

Jared tried not to stare as the freshly-showered alpha crossed the room to sit down at the foot of the other bed. But it was impossible. He would have to be dead to not want to gaze at the twist and pull of muscles under the man’s freckled flesh as Jensen picked up his shirt and pulled it on over his head before ruffling his hand through his hair.

He forced himself to blink and look away from the alpha. This was getting ridiculous. For years Jared had been able to be in the same room as Jensen and act “normal” (well, as normal as could be said for Jared, anyway), but— _shit_ … Gen’s words from this morning came back to him. Was she right? Was his omega picking up on the fact that Jensen no longer had a beta?

“Yeah, uh, not having a shower’s gonna suck.”

Jared settled further down into his bed and rolled onto his side. He closed his eyes and willed himself to think of something other than the man who was sitting not ten feet away. But that didn’t help. The alpha’s scent tickled at his nose, stronger than he’d ever noticed it before, even on supps. The high-priced pills might keep him from going into heat, but everything else still worked just as Mother Nature intended it to. Jared was an omega and an omega in the proximity of an unattached alpha for any length of time would… _want_ for lack of a better word. Sometimes Jared really hated being an omega.

He took a deep breath— _yeah, that didn’t help_ —and reminded himself of what would happen if he slipped up. His career would be irrevocably ruined; the damage to his friendship with Jensen would be irreparable. He. Could. Not. Go. There.

“G’night, Jen.”

~*~

 _April 4, 2009_ _| El Dorado Plaza Hotel - Iquitos, Peru | 6:00am_

 

Morning came far too soon. Jared buried his head further under his pillow when the alarm clock went off. If the damn thing had been within reach, it would be a pile of rubble on the other side of the room. But it wasn’t.

“Nooo,” he groaned when Jensen finally silenced the god-awful noise. “Just five more minutes.”

He heard the blankets rustling around on the other bed. In his mind’s eye, Jared could picture Jensen sitting up and running his fingers through bed-rumpled hair. There was further movement and he could feel the air shift as Jensen got up to head to the bathroom, his damn omega finely attuned to every movement the alpha made.

Jared jumped when Jensen smacked the bottom of his foot as he passed by.

“Rise and shine, dude. Got a big day ahead of us.”

Jensen’s actions only got another groan out of Jared. He rolled over and stretched out, legs and arms starfishing across the bed. “Wha’ time s’it?” he mumbled.

“Six o’clock. Don’t worry, babe. I’ll get you set up with some coffee as soon as I’m done in here.”

The door to the bathroom closed and Jared dropped his forearm over his eyes. Mornings were where the jet lag caught up with them. He knew this would happen.

He must have fallen back to sleep because the next thing he knew, his blankets were being unceremoniously yanked off him and Jensen was standing at his bedside, dressed in—what exactly? Jared blinked until his vision cleared.

“What the hell are you wearing?” were the first words out of his mouth.

The first thing Jared had noticed was the wide-brimmed fedora— _a fedora?_ Then his eyes traveled downward to the light-colored safari shirt (opened at the neck, two buttons down; the cuffs were rolled up to Jensen’s elbows) and then down to the pleated, khaki pants. Jared could only guess the getup was finished off with a pair of Aldens that he couldn’t see from where he still lay in the bed. (Where Jensen had managed on getting the clothes in just one day was beyond him.)

“You like?” Jensen grinned and threw his arms out wide.

Jared didn’t know whether to burst out laughing or swoon at how well the outfit just seemed to… fit. “Sure thing, uh, Indy.”

“What? Too much?” Jensen dropped his arms. He looked down at himself and then back up at Jared. “I thought it looked good.” He almost looked hurt.

“No,” Jared blurt out. “No, Jen. It looks… good. Authentic. Really,” he assured the man. Meanwhile, he may have had to shift just a little to hide how much he did like it. Track pants were so unforgiving.

Jensen was rubbing at the nape of his neck now. “Yeah?” He still looked unsure.

“Yeah.” Jared sat up and swept his bangs from face. “But please, please don’t tell me you have one of those man purse things, too.”

Jensen was quiet. Jared narrowed his gaze at him.

“No.” But the guilty look was clear as day on Jensen’s face.

“You do, don’t you? Ha! Let me see!”

Jared had forgotten how tired he was because this he had to see. In one quick movement he turned and leapt across the bed. Jensen’s bags were still sitting on the floor by the desk where they’d been last night. But Jensen was already one step ahead of him. The next thing he knew, the heavy weight of Jensen Ackles was on him. Jared lost his balance and they both fell off the bed and onto the floor in a tangled heap of limbs.

“Shit!” Jared sputtered as he caught his breath; the impact and consequent tumble to the floor had knocked the wind out of him—but it probably didn’t help that he was laughing his ass off. Jensen had an arm wrapped tightly around Jared’s torso, fingers digging into one of Jared’s ticklish spots, trying to keep him from inching his way across the floor on his stomach to where Jared could just barely see the leather strap sticking out of Jensen’s bag, evidence of the fact that Jensen did, indeed, have in his possession what he’d previously denied.

Jared wasn’t making much headway so he twisted around in Jensen’s grip and rolled onto his back ready to fight back. It probably wasn’t the best move because not only were his arms still trapped, but now he was chest to chest with Jensen—they were so close that Jared could feel the heat of Jensen’s breath tickle against the sensitive skin of his neck—and he had Jensen’s thigh pressed into his groin. Jared just barely held back a groan as he squirmed in his friend’s tight hold. (And, to make matters worse, his omega mind was right there telling him how hot it was that the alpha could so easily manhandle him.)

Jensen’s bright, green eyes were alight with mischief as he looked down at Jared. “Uncle?”

“No way.” Jared wasn’t about to give up that quickly.

He finally managed to get an arm loose and tried to wedge it between them to break free of Jensen’s hold. Jensen caught him by the wrist and a second after that, Jared found both his arms pinned over his head with Jensen straddling him, the rough fibers of the carpet digging into the backs of his wrists. Jared arched his back and shoved up in an attempt to dislodge the alpha, but Jensen held firm.

Jensen’s tongue darted out to moisten his lips before he once again asked, “Uncle?” The grip on Jared’s wrists tightened ever so slightly with the question.

“Absolutely not.” And maybe Jared was a little more stubborn than what was good for him.

Jared bucked up again, but to no avail. He was stuck; they were at a stalemate. Well, not exactly a stalemate since Jared was currently on the losing end of things… even if his omega might be enjoying it a little too much.

Suddenly, the most insane idea of Jared’s life came to him. (Later, he would blame it on his omega.) Before his common sense had time to kick in and tell him what a bad idea it was, what a horrible idea it was, something he could possibly regret for the rest of his life, he leaned up and planted a big, fat messy one on Jensen’s lips…

Those ever so soft lips.

Jared’s eyes widened. _Shitshitshit. What the hell did he just do?_ He pulled away faster than if he’d been burned, head thunking back hard against the floor. Thank god for carpet or he’d probably have concussed himself.

Jensen had instantly stilled and was staring down at him, the mischief that had been in his eyes gone, but replaced by something Jared couldn’t discern. The hold on Jared’s wrists fell away and Jensen slowly sat up from where he’d been leaning over Jared.

_Please, don’t let him notice how interested my dick might be after that._

Jared had to think fast. He could fix this. He could. Jensen knew better than anyone what a goofball he was, that Jared used that particular trait to his advantage when he needed to, and at times he did things without using the big brain he was gifted with. Jared had been known to play dirty on occasion, too. This was just one of those times. Right?

“Gotcha!” he said with a snicker that may have been a little forced. Taking advantage of moment, he swiftly rolled over and crawled the last couple feet to Jensen’s bags. There, on top of Jensen’s clothing, was the leather satchel in question. Jared pulled it out and looked at it with a smile. He tossed it over to a still stunned Jensen. “You so fell for that, man. And I don’t care how awesome Indy is, it’s still a man purse.”

Jensen was still kneeling on the floor where Jared had left him. He cocked an eyebrow, looked down at the bag in his hands, and shook his head—but he was grinning.

“Dude, next time you decide to kiss me, brush your teeth first.”


	5. Chapter 5

 

 _April 4, 2009_ _| Iquitos – Day 1 | 6:47am_

 

EcoAdventures was only ten minutes away by bus. The awkwardness of what had happened up in the room was quickly forgotten as they stepped outside into the bright light of the morning. Immediately upon walking out the front door of the hotel, Jared was caught by the beauty of the Plaza de Armas just across the street. He wished they had more time to explore, but they were already running behind.

Coffees in hand, Jared and Jensen squeezed through the door of the bus with their bags and found empty seats. Jared ended up two rows in front of Jensen and across the aisle. He looked over his shoulder and Jensen gave him a casual wink. Jared smiled back at him before settling down to let his coffee work its way through his system. In a couple hours, they would be on a boat heading up the Amazon River. Jared had to admit, he was excited for the upcoming week.

~*~

The bus stopped and four locals edged their way along the narrow aisle of the bus along with Jared and Jensen, all of them stepping carefully over paper bags filled with fresh produce and… other things from the famous Belen Market. Jared cringed when he caught a glimpse of a thick, scaly tail hanging out of one bag. Was that an alligator carcass? _Ewww. Just no._ He held his breath and tried not to look down at it as he continued down the aisle.

Jared took a deep breath of air when his feet hit the cracked pavement of the road. Sweat was already forming on his brow and he wiped it away with the back of his hand before looking around to see where they were.

It wasn’t the best of neighborhoods. Most of the buildings looked run down, their formerly vibrant colors faded to dull echoes of what they once were—some were even boarded up. Jared felt his level of excitement lessen when he took it all in. He hoped Jensen hadn’t given these people too much of a deposit because it wasn’t looking too promising. He was just about to say as much when he felt a tug on his arm.

“C’mon. This way.”

Jared looked to see where Jensen was dragging him off to and then he saw the sign two blocks down. _EcoAdventures_ … and that damn purple monkey. The paint on the sign was just as faded as that on the surrounding buildings.

“Are you sure about this?” Jared wasn’t usually one to judge a book by its cover, but…

Jensen stopped and looked at Jared, half full coffee cup still in hand. “What?” he asked as he adjusted his fedora with his free hand. A single drop of sweat glistened in the early morning sunlight as it rolled down the side of Jensen’s face from his temple to his jaw-line.

Jared waved an arm at the building that apparently housed the expedition company. “That.” It looked like a fire hazard—but he couldn’t bring himself to actually say the words.

Jensen glanced down the street at the building then back to Jared. “Since when are you such a prima donna?” he jibed with a smirk. “I thought you loved this kind of shit: authentic and cultural. Anyway, it’s not like we’re spending the week in the place. We’re just here to sign some paperwork. As long as their boat don’t sink, I’m good.”

“Dude, I am not a prima donna. Just, you know, if the place falls down on us, I’m pointing the finger at you when the ‘Powers That Be’ are looking for someone to blame.”

“I’ll take my chances.” The alpha grinned and pulled Jared along. Jared couldn’t help but smile… partly because Jensen really did look good in that fedora.

~*~

From the outside, the building looked like it should have a condemned sign hanging from the front door and a bulldozer waiting to take it down. Jensen didn’t seem too concerned when he pulled the front door open and tugged Jared in behind him.

Jared looked around. Dog-eared posters with smiling families hiking through the jungle or grinning on riverboats were plastered to every vertical surface. The furniture—a couch, a desk, and a couple chairs—was in decent shape and, by that, Jared meant less than a couple decades old. Postcards were tacked to a large corkboard behind the desk where a lone computer sat; a purple, bobble-head monkey sat next to the monitor.

The brass bell over the door had announced their arrival and it wasn’t long before a man, who looked to be in his mid forties if the graying of his dark hair and the weathered complexion of his skin was anything to go by, stepped out from a side room. He was average in height, probably 5’8” at best guess, but he was well-built and was dressed in khakis much like the ones Jensen wore (Jared was feeling a bit underdressed in his basic cargo shorts) and an olive-green t-shirt. He looked like someone who could handle themselves in the wilds of the jungle. His smile was crooked and bright as he approached them.

“Mr. Ackles?” The man’s accent was thick, but he could be clearly understood. He looked up at Jensen with dark brown eyes and held a hand out in greeting when Jensen stepped forward.

“That’s me, but call me Jensen. Mr. Ackles is my dad.”

The man nodded. “Okay then, Jensen. Vanco Flores,” he introduced himself. And then he reached out to shake Jared’s hand, eyes looking up to meet with Jared’s almost a whole foot above him. “And you are?”

“Jared Padalecki, his plus one. Nice to meet you, sir.”

“And you as well, Jared. Welcome to EcoAdventures.” The man raised his arms and made a sweeping gesture of the room. “The office, it may be small, but the jungle, my friends, it is where the _adventure_ is.”

Jensen nudged Jared in an I-told-you-so fashion and flashed a smile at him. Jared just rolled his eyes as Vanco continued to talk as he headed over to the desk.

“My brother Piero and I will be your guides over the next few days. You’ll have to excuse his current absence. He is just off making some last minute arrangements for our trip.

“In the meantime, why don’t we take a seat,” he rounded the desk as he spoke and gestured for both Jared and Jensen to take the seats opposite, “and take care of the paperwork? They take but just a few minutes. After, I’ll show you where you can stow the things you don’t want to take with you on our journey. By then, my brother will be back.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jensen said as he let his backpack drop from his shoulder to the floor next to his duffle and then took his hat off and left it on top of the pile.

Jared followed suit leaving his things next to Jensen’s and then took the empty seat beside him. Once Vanco settled in, he handed them each a pen. Jensen looked at Jared with a grin which Jared returned. Their attention turned back toward Vanco when he pulled out a manila folder and cleared his throat.

“You have chosen the AdventureQuest package. This is a very nice package, but also very—how do you say?—physically demanding,” Vanco said as he opened the file and pulled out several sheets of paper. “You both look like capable, young alphas, so I do not think that will be a problem,” he commented with a friendly wink and a smile.

“I think we’re good in that department,” Jensen confirmed. “Our jobs keep us in shape.”

“Oh? What do you do?” Vanco inquired curiously, looking up from the sheet of paper he was reviewing.

“We’re actors on a TV show. And this one here,” he pointed at Jared, “likes to do a lot of his own stunts.”

“Hey, you do, too,” Jared quipped back.

“Interesting. And your agents, they know you are doing this?”

The question called their attention back to Vanco. Jared thought it was an odd thing to ask. Normally, the first question people asked was what show they were on. But Jared guessed it might have something to do with accountability and whatever insurance the expedition company might have.

“Nah. Too much red tape and all,” Jensen explained with a dismissive wave of his hand. “What they don’t know won’t hurt 'em and all that.” The alpha drained what was left of his coffee and set the cup down on the floor by his feet. “Don’t worry about us though. We can handle whatever you throw at us. Right, Jay?” He looked at Jared and Jared nodded.

“Yeah, we’re good… as long as we don’t run into any man-eating spiders.” Jared grinned when Jensen’s eyes grew wide.

Vanco laughed. “Ah, our not-so-little, eight-legged friends, the Goliaths. You’ve heard of them. Rest assured, we don’t see many of those where we’re going. They live further north. And don’t believe everything you hear. They mostly live off earth worms and toads. You leave them alone; they leave you alone.”

“Dude,” Jensen groaned, “seriously? I find one, I’m gonna leave it in your shoe. Maybe it’ll think your big toe is a toad, that’s if it doesn’t die from the smell first.”

Vanco chuckled. “I like you two,” he was watching them from across the desk. “I see this trip is going to be enjoyable. But if we are to get out on time, we have to finish up here.”

Jensen gave Jared one more playful scowl before they settled back in their chairs and turned their complete attention back to Vanco.

The man handed a sheet of paper to Jensen. “I see you’ve put fifty percent down. Another twenty-five percent is due now and the rest is due when we return. If you could just make sure everything on this page is correct.”

Jensen nodded as he looked over the information. Jared still felt uncomfortable that Jensen was taking on the entire expense, but he’d already made it clear that this was his gift to Jared for whatever reason, so Jared didn’t say anything. He let his eyes wander around the room as Jensen pulled out his wallet and passed over what Jared knew was his American Express card. Jensen always insisted on carrying one credit card when they went abroad. It wasn’t the brightest idea in Jared’s book, but Jensen always had some excuse. His biggest was what if there was an emergency and the traveler’s cheques didn’t hack it? He had a point.

It took another fifteen minutes to go over the waivers and release forms. Jared and Jensen scratched their signatures on the bottoms of the papers and then handed over their IDs for Vanco to make copies of. Vanco explained that it was required to keep a dossier of every individual going out just in case, god forbid, something really did happen. But he insisted nothing serious ever had; the worst injury since the business had opened was a sprained ankle when someone slipped in a patch of mud and took a tumble down a small incline.

As they were handing the final papers back over the desk, Jared heard the engine of a car just outside and looked out the storefront window. He saw what looked to be an old Land Rover parked out front.

“Ah, that would be Piero. Just in time. Excuse me one moment.” Vanco got up from his seat at the desk and disappeared out the front door to meet up with Piero.

Jared could see the other man through the window. He was dressed in camo pants and a dark green t-shirt that did nothing to hide the thick muscles of his arms and torso. He also had on a military cap that matched the color of his shirt. The whole picture reminded Jared of what he’d seen of the Columbian drug lords. He wanted to laugh when the thought occurred to him. _I watch way too many movies._

“He seems like a nice guy,” Jensen commented as he turned back around in his seat and then reached out to tap the plastic, purple monkey’s head making it bobble.

Jared lifted his brow. “I bet you’ve been dying to do that ever since you saw it.”

“It’s a bobble-head. It was asking for it.” Jensen flicked it again, a little harder this time. It fell over with a clatter and he reached out quickly and fumbled to set it upright again.

Jared snickered. Jensen looked back at him with a grin.

“Couldn’t just leave it alone, could you?”

“Shuddup.”

“Okay, _Dean_ ,” Jared teased.

Before Jensen could come back at him with some kind of witty remark, Vanco and Piero came inside.

Up close, Jared could instantly see the family resemblance between the two men. But whereas Vanco’s features were slightly softer with age, Piero’s were sharp: a firm jaw-line, a distinctive nose, and penetrating brown eyes. He was also taller than Vanco by several inches. When the man made eye contact with Jared, Jared felt himself shrink back ever so slightly. Instinctively, he didn’t like the man.

Jensen stood to greet the newcomer.

~*~

It was a short ride down to the boat launch. Jared and Jensen sat in the backseat of the Land Rover, windows all the way down so the warm breeze could cut through the stale heat of the interior. Piero drove while Vanco pointed out various places of interest to keep them occupied. Jared quickly came to the conclusion that Piero was the quieter one of the two brothers.

The buildings thinned out the closer they got to the river; the quality of their structures also declined. Jared could just barely make out the faint waterlines on their walls, more than likely the result of the river overflowing its banks during the really rainy seasons.

The paved road came to a sudden end and Piero turned down a narrow dirt road. Another turn and the Amazon River came into full view.

“What do you think, think they got any bass swimmin’ in that?” Jensen nudged Jared with his elbow and gave him a wink. “How’s the fishin’ down here, Vanco?”

The older man turned around in the seat to face them. “We do have bass, but the tambaqui are even tastier. Just watch out for the payara; locals call them ‘vampire fish.’”

That piqued Jensen’s curiosity. “Vampire fish? What, next thing you’re gonna tell me is they have fangs, right?”

Vanco grinned. “How do you think they got their name?” The SUV came to a stop then, but he wasn’t done; his smile widened. “And don’t pee in the water.”

Jared raised his brow at that.

Their guide’s expression became one of complete seriousness. “The candiru, it’s a tiny parasitic catfish,” he held out his hand and showed them the fish’s size between his thumb and forefinger, “can jump right up out of the water and go places you would probably not want it to go.”

The SUV became quiet, all except for the tick of the cooling engine. “Okay, now you’re shittin’ me, man. That’s just… not okay.”

Jensen looked a little green and Jared bowled over laughing.

“You should see your face, dude! You really think that could happen?” Jared laughed even more when Jensen punched him in the shoulder. “‘S not like we’re gonna go swimming anyway.”

“No, really. Does that shit happen?” Jensen looked at Vanco waiting for an answer.

Jared pressed his teeth into his lower lip to suppress his giggles.

“Once that we know of” was Vanco’s answer. “But not for a long time; you should be safe.” With that, he opened his door. “So, are you two up for some manual labor?”

Piero had already gotten out and had opened the rear door of the Land Rover. There were crates of gear and supplies as well as a half dozen water containers in the back that had to be transferred down to the boat.

Jared could see Jensen still trying to figure out if Vanco was yanking his chain or not and he couldn’t help but smile. “You’re the one who wanted ‘some fresh air.’ Well, you got it… and then some.” And then he opened the door and jumped out before Jensen could retaliate.

~*~

The boat was moored to a very small dock, nothing like some of the larger ones upriver that Jared had seen from their hotel window that morning.

Piero had pulled the SUV right down to the boat launch and all four of them worked together to transfer the supplies from the vehicle to the boat.

Jared was amazed at the amount of gear and supplies they needed for a week out in the jungle. He wiped the sweat from his forehead before grabbing another water container from the bed of the Rover. Jensen grunted beside him as he picked up crate of supplies from the tailgate and carried it down to the boat.

“Dude, I’m startin’ to think I should have booked us a trip to Antarctica,” Jensen grumbled.

Jared snickered. “But then you wouldn’t have that awesome machete.”

Back at the office, Vanco had helped go over the provisions that each of them should have in their packs for the trip and made sure they had what they needed. This included a first aid kit which Jared was carrying and a machete that Jensen had strapped to his belt.

“Yeah, it might come in handy, you know, just in case we run into any _vampire fish_ while we’re out there.” He gestured to the jungle with his chin.

“Or spiders.”

“Shut your mouth.”

Jared snickered as he passed off the water container to Vanco.

Once everything was loaded onto the boat, Jared and Jensen boarded the vessel. It wasn’t large by any means, but it could probably hold eight to ten people comfortably. Jared walked to the stern and leaned over the edge to peer down into the water while they waited for their guides to finish up with a few things.

Piero had gone back ashore to park the SUV up away from the water’s edge and Vanco was securing the things they’d brought aboard. Jensen was eyeballing the control deck of the boat more than likely comparing it to his twenty-three footer back in LA. Jared turned when he heard Piero climbing aboard. The man had two rifles which he passed off to Vanco.

“For protection,” Vanco explained when he saw Jared eyeing the weapons. “There are many dangers in the jungle.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Note: all of the fish mentioned in this chapter are really real. Look them up. LOL!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some Spanish language spoken in this chapter. Please see the End Notes for translation.

 

 _April 4, 2009_ _| Somewhere on the Amazon River – Day 1 | 4:02pm_

 

The water was still and quiet around them, lapping lazily at the sides of the boat as they floated up the river. Their small conversations, the monotonous drone of the boat’s engine, and a few random calls of the wild were the only sounds around them for miles. So far, the weather had held out. The temps were warm, but not overly so, and the humidity was fine as long as you weren’t overexerting yourself. All around them, the lush and verdant greens and brilliant blues of the sky made for a beautiful picture.

Jared had dug his camera out very early on and by now had taken several hundred pictures, all of which he just now realized, were of lots of water and trees mixed in with a handful of secretly-taken candids of Jensen. There was only so much one could do on a boat for six hours straight. It didn’t matter what part of the planet you were on, it got boring after a while. _Now, if they had a faster boat and some water skis…_

Jensen’s head was starting to droop where he sat under the canopy. As soon as his chin hit his chest, he pulled his head back up and blinked his eyes open; he scrubbed a hand over his face. Jared was sitting on the edge of the boat, one leg folded under him, the other on the deck for support. He smiled at Jensen when the alpha looked around and finally caught sight of him. Jared jumped down from his perch and walked over to the man.

“They said fifteen more minutes. How’re you holding up?” Jared asked as he took the seat next to Jensen.

“I’m thinkin’ I should’ve gone to bed earlier last night,” Jensen replied with a tired grin. “I’ll be good once we’re off this boat though; the thing’s rockin’ me to sleep.”

“Yeah.” Jared thumbed his camera off and carefully set it down on the chair next to him.

“You get any good pictures on that thing?”

“A few, but mostly of the river and trees. I haven’t seen much more than what you and I both saw earlier. The caimans were pretty cool though—and the jabiru storks. I saw something under the water back around the last bend, but I couldn’t tell what it was before it disappeared. I guess the animals don’t come out much during the day.”

“That’s because they’re smarter than us.”

“I think you’ve got a point.” Jared pulled his t-shirt up and wiped the ever-present sweat from his face and neck.

~*~

As promised, the boat skidded up on the shore roughly fifteen minutes later. There was no dock and Piero moored it to a nearby tree. Not far off, Jared spied another Land Rover, this one somewhat newer than the one back in town, parked along what he surmised was a jeep trail.

“Well, at least we don’t have to carry all this stuff on our backs,” Jensen said as he came up and clapped a hand to Jared’s back and slid it across his shoulders. “We’re in shape, but not that good of shape. Plus, I wanna be able to move after the next few days.”

“Yeah, you’re not kidding.”

“So, Piero,” Jensen turned to start helping to unload the boat, “what’s up with the crazy fish around here?” he asked as he jumped out of the boat and hauled a crate over to the Rover.

Jared snorted a laugh and shook his head. “You know, he’s gonna be looking for those things wherever he drops his pants, even if it is on dry land,” he said to Vanco.

“He’ll have much more on his mind tomorrow than little fish. Trust me.” Vanco hopped out of the boat and headed over to the Rover with two water containers.

Jared frowned. He wondered what the guide meant by that.

His attention was pulled away a moment later when he heard Jensen give a shout. Jared jumped off the boat and ran over to where the alpha was standing.

Jared froze when he saw what Jensen was staring down at: a snake. A very large snake. A very fuckin’ large snake. When the anaconda moved and began to slither off into the shallow edge of the river (all fifteen goddamn feet of it), Jared gripped Jensen’s arm tight enough to bruise. _Has he ever mentioned he doesn’t like snakes?_ If he never saw another one of those again, it would be all too soon.

~*~

Camp was set up a few miles to the northwest of where they left the boat. By the time they had the tents set up and the fire lit, dusk had fallen. As Jared had guessed, it seemed that many of the jungle’s inhabitants were nocturnal. The volume of noise rose the further the sun went down.

But not all of them were night dwellers as they’d found out earlier.

“You should’ve seen your damn face when that monkey howled over your head,” Jensen guffawed. “I thought you shit yourself.”

“Hey, you didn’t do much better yourself, Tarzan.”

They both had been caught off guard, embarrassingly enough, when the noisy primate had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Even Piero had cracked a rare smile when the two “American actors” stumbled and crashed into each other cursing out loud as they were setting up their tent.

“How safe are these tents?” Jensen asked no one in particular. He was sitting next to Jared on an upturned crate; his fedora was resting on his knee.

Surprisingly, Piero, who was sitting in a crouch near the fire, spoke up. “If you think some little monkey is going to unzip your tent in the middle of the night so he can help keep your bed warm, you’ll be sorely disappointed.” He chuckled and tossed a stick into the flames.

Jared very nearly choked on the tambaqui he was eating. He hadn’t expected Piero to have any sense of humor, not from what he’d seen anyway. Apparently, Jensen had warmed up to the alpha much more than Jared had—but then again, the two had gone off fishing together before settling into camp for the evening. The tambaqui they’d brought back after a little more than an hour had been a good forty pounds, at least (and that had been considered on the small side); Jared would have paid good money to have seen Jensen wrestling that thing in from the river.

“I just don’t wanna be goin’ home with any pets. 'Cause Jay, here,” Jensen pointed to Jared, a crooked grin on his face, “likes to bring strays home.”

“Hey!” Jared turned and looked at Jensen, all set to deny the playful accusation. He was momentarily struck dumb by how the firelight enhanced the deep green of the other man’s eyes as he looked at him, grinning, and the argument died on Jared’s lips before it even started.

Vanco spoke up drawing his attention away from Jensen.

“The fire will keep most things away,” he supplied more helpfully. He took a bite of the fish that remained on his plate. “They’re more frightened of us than you are of them. Just keep your shoes inside the tent at night. You don’t want any surprises in the morning.”

From the corner of his eye, Jared saw Jensen look down at his feet. He wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Jensen slept with his boots on; if he were Dean, he’d probably sleep with his gun under the pillow, too. Jared smirked at the thought.

Their conversation tapered off not long after. It was clear they were all tired and they had a long day ahead of them tomorrow. In the morning, they were going to pack up camp and take the SUV to another point further north of where they were now before they set out on foot.

This was day one. They had six more to go. By then, Jared figured he and Jensen would be old pros when it came to hiking through the wilds of the jungle.

~*~

 _April 5, 2009_ _| Camp – Day 2 | 12:38am_

 

Jared hadn’t completely thought this trip out. Especially not the part where he would be sharing a closet-sized tent with Jensen, and that they would be lying so close to each other he could feel the alpha’s body heat and smell nothing but the scent of alpha. That same alpha whom he'd kissed less than twenty-four hours ago.

_Shit._

Jared blew out an exasperated breath. This was going to be one long-ass week. How he was going to hold himself together that long was beyond his exhausted brain’s comprehension.

He was on his left side, facing away from Jensen. One small shift of his legs had his bare foot touching the warm skin of Jensen’s leg.

Jared jumped when something brushed lightly against his arm.

“You all right?”

He shouldn't have been surprised that Jensen would pick up on the fact that Jared was still wide awake.

“Just hot.” It wasn’t necessarily a flat out lie. He _was_ uncomfortably warm, even stripped down to his boxer briefs as he was. Jared rolled over from his side and settled onto his back. The musty smell of the tent mingled with Jensen’s scent and tickled at his nose. Jared tried to ignore it the best he could. “What about you? You were shot earlier. Why are you even awake?”

There was a quiet sigh before Jensen spoke. “A lot on my mind, is all.”

“Anything you want to talk about?”

Jensen didn't answer right away. Jared could tell that his friend was deep in thought. “No," he finally said.

Silence fell between them then. Jared had hoped Jensen would finally break down and tell him what was on his mind, but nothing more was offered in the darkness of the night.

“Get some sleep,” Jensen eventually said before turning over onto his side away from Jared. In the confines of the tent, his back brushed up against Jared’s shoulder. It was almost too much for Jared, feeling the heat of the alpha seeping into his skin.

But he didn’t move.

~*~

 _April 5, 2009_ _| Camp – Day 2 | 6:48am_

 

Jared was in that comfortable place somewhere between sleeping and waking. He was pressed up against a warm, solid body and didn’t want to move… ever.

But no matter how much he fought consciousness, he still found himself waking. He nuzzled his face into the heat for another moment before he was overwhelmed by the scent of alpha. _Huh?_

He blinked his eyes open and… _Oh,_ _crap_.

Jensen was still asleep— _thank fuck_ —because Jared had just been cuddling him like a goddamn teddy bear. Jared slowly, ever so slowly, inched away from Jensen so as not to wake him. When he was a safe distance away, Jared took a deep, relieved breath when Jensen only snuffled and settled again.

Jared took a moment to take in the sleeping alpha. Jensen was sprawled out on his stomach, thin blanket twisted about his long legs. His black boxer briefs didn’t leave a whole hell of a lot to the imagination as Jared’s gaze swept over the long lines of Jensen’s profile, over the freckles scattered across tan skin, over the peaks and valleys of muscle, right down to the swell of his ass.

He could feel his heartbeat pick up its pace at just the thought of being able to have all that, caress all that with a soft glide of his fingers, taste all that with his tongue…

“Jay…?”

Jared’s eyes snapped up to Jensen, who was… not sleeping anymore. Green eyes were watching him and he wondered how long Jensen had been awake, how long he’d been watching Jared watch him.

“Huh? Yeah?” Jared swallowed and hoped Jensen had been too sleepy-eyed to see the lusting want in his eyes. He turned and busied himself trying to find his clothes from yesterday.

“‘S that coffee I smell?”

Jared was doing his best to pull himself together. He sniffed the air and, yeah, he did smell the faint aroma of coffee. “Uh, yeah, I think. Sorry, just not fully awake—”

Jensen rolled over and stretched his body, groaning at the pull of sleep-stiff muscles before sitting up and beginning to dig through his own things on his side of the tent. A minute later, he was pulling his shirt down over his head. “You’re slackin’, Jay. Coffee. How did you miss that?”

Jensen was far from stupid; Jared knew that. Why, then, was he ignoring the fact that he’d caught Jared outright ogling him?

Whatever the reason, Jared wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. From now on, though, he was going to have to make more of a conscious effort to keep his hormones in check before Jensen started raising an eyebrow at it—and Jensen was good at raising eyebrows.

~*~

 _April 5, 2009_ _| Day 2 | 10:13am_

 

The Land Rover came to a stop. Piero had driven them deeper into the jungle, the trail the SUV was traversing barely wide enough for it. On one side of them, there was a valley, the drop to it maybe two hundred feet, give or take; on the other side, the jungle stretched for miles. For most of the trip, Vanco had kept them occupied with a running commentary on the animals they’d seen while traveling as well as the plants and trees, but he’d been quiet for the last mile or so. Jared and Jensen had busied themselves with their own quiet conversation, then, pointing things out to each other while Jared took pictures. They’d both lost track of where they were long ago counting on their guides to lead them out once their week came to an end.

“End of the ride, mis amigos,” Piero said as he turned off the engine and glanced over the seat at them. He looked over at Vanco once they acknowledged him. “¿Estás listo para hacer esto?”

Vanco nodded. “Sí, vamos a terminar con esto.”

Jared wasn’t really paying attention to the brothers’ conversation as he put his camera back into its case and tucked it safely into his bag; neither was Jensen. They were both too busy making sure their things were in order. He heard Vanco say something about meeting them outside shortly and Jared gave him a nod.

Five minutes ago, it had started to rain, a loud and heavy drizzle that drowned out most everything else as it came down through the wide leaves of the trees above. Go figure the weather would turn to crap as soon as they were supposed to start their journey on foot. Jared made sure his phone, passport, wallet, and supps were secure in their weather-safe pouch before zipping his pack closed and then pulling the rain cover over it to try to keep what he could dry.

“We should’ve packed umbrellas,” Jensen kidded even as he was placing his fedora on his head and opening the door. A second later, he was stepping out into the soaking rain and hauling his backpack out behind him.

“Sure thing, Mary Poppins.” Jared took one last look at the interior of the car, put his baseball hat on, and then followed, carefully skirting the edge of the ravine Piero had so thoughtfully parked them along.

They met up at the rear of the vehicle, Jensen and Jared hitching their packs up onto their backs—Jensen had that ridiculous man purse slung over his shoulder and the machete was strapped to his belt.

“Dude, remind me to take a picture of you before this is done. Because that outfit? It’s priceless.”

Jensen stopped and looked at Jared; his eyes scanned Jared from head to toe. “Better than cargo shorts and a Pearl Jam t-shirt. Jealousy’s a bitch, Jay,” he deadpanned as he opened the trunk door of the Rover and began lifting out the water containers and setting them on the ground to the side. “Anyway, I thought you said you liked it. My feelings are hurt.” Jensen threw him a silly pout as he worked.

Jared snorted and was thankful when Jensen turned away because that pouty lip was a deadly weapon.

“What are the guys up to?” Jensen asked, referring to Vanco and Piero, as he stepped up beside Jared to grab a crate of food.

Jared looked toward the front seat and saw the brothers looking down at something and talking quietly to one another.

"They said they'll be out in a minute."

"Probably just don't wanna get wet."

While Jensen took his time trying to make sure the food was safely covered from the elements, Jared returned to the SUV to grab another container of water. The ground was growing slick as the rain continued to fall; the mud slish-sloshed under his booted feet. Jared didn’t quite make it back to the Rover.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks, breath catching in his throat; his hands automatically came up to show he wasn’t a threat as he took a step back. Piero and Vanco had come around the sides of the vehicle and both were armed, Piero with a pistol that ironically looked a lot like Sam’s Taurus from the show and Vanco with one of the rifles. Both weapons were held loosely at their sides; it was fairly obvious they weren’t out for Jared and Jensen’s protection.

“Tha’s right, _Americano_. Slow and easy.” Piero grinned; there was no hope for kindness in that smile.

“Uh, Jen,” Jared nearly gasped taking another step back, almost going down when his foot got caught up in the tire rut in the road. “Hey.”

Jensen was still going on about something or another, his back turned to the scene going on behind him.

“Wha—?” Jared knew exactly when Jensen realized what was going on; he could feel the tension rise in the air around him. Jensen immediately stepped up to where Jared was standing and pushed Jared behind him. “What the hell, man?” he growled, his alpha edging out.

“Careful, amigo,” Vanco warned as he lifted his rifle. “I like you two, but if you don’t listen, someone might get hurt—and my brother doesn’t have as much patience as I do.”

“What do you want?” Jared asked, attempting to step up next to Jensen, but Jensen held him back with an outstretched arm across his chest.

Piero narrowed his eyes at them. “American actors… How much are you two worth,” he asked with a smirk, “a few million each? More?” He gestured to their packs with his weapon. “Open your bags and empty them.”

Vanco, having been there to oversee their packing back at the office, had seen everything Jensen and Jared had put in their packs. He knew they had their wallets, cash, travelers cheques, and passports with them. With just their passports and licenses, alone, these men could make whatever demands for ransom they wanted to the US. _Fuck_. Jared was just beginning to realize how big this actually was.

They had just become international hostages.

Jared’s stomach dropped at the thought. He reached up and curled his fingers into the back of Jensen’s shirt. Jensen had to be thinking the same thing.

When neither of them moved, Piero raised his gun and fired off a warning shot that hissed through the air way too close to Jared’s ear. Jared let out a very unmanly yelp and Jensen yelled at Piero.

“We’re moving, all right? Put the damn gun down!”

Jared’s hands were shaking as he dropped his pack from his shoulders to the muddy ground and crouched down to unzip it. He could see Jensen’s hands were trembling as well, but somehow he could sense more anger than fear coming from the alpha kneeling beside him.

They began pulling the things from their bags. Jared cringed when he took his camera out and Vanco snatched it from his hand and tossed it into the back of the Rover; it wasn’t the monetary value of the camera, but the pictures on it that he would mourn the loss of.

Apparently, they were taking too long. His bag and Jensen’s were torn from their hands and, one by one, the contents of each was hastily dumped onto the sodden ground. Jared watched as their “guides” sifted through their belongings and found what they were searching for.

Neither Jared nor Jensen had much in the way of cash on them, but there was enough there to make it worth the crooks’ while. Not that it really mattered much what Vanco and Piero took. Much more than money was at stake here; their very lives were on the line—and that scared the living shit out of Jared. His mathematical brain was already assessing the probability of getting out of this alive even if they didn’t get shot in the next few minutes; it didn’t look good. Even if they were to somehow get away, they were god only knew where in the middle of the jungle.

Jared’s eyes were on greedy hands. He saw a familiar flash of silver foil and white pills as Vanco tore open the weather-proof pouch with Jared’s possessions. _Oh, god, his supps._ The man wordlessly pocketed them along with Jared’s other things. Rationality fell by the wayside for a split second and Jared was up shouting.

“No! You can’t—”

It was all a blur after that.

Jared was up onto his feet and in sudden motion. Something hit him dangerously hard in the solar plexus and his breath shot out of him. He dropped to his knees, clutching at his midsection. The _snick_ of a weapon cocking somewhere nearby, far too close to his right temple, broke through the now distant sound of rain falling. His eyes immediately turned to Jensen. _I’m gonna die. Shit, I’m gonna die_ , he thought as his heart raced behind his ribs.

But Jensen was already rising to his feet with a fierce growl, green eyes flashing amber and canines lengthening as his alpha took over and his anger surged. Jensen launched himself at Piero before the man could pull the trigger and the two men tumbled to the ground, snarling, their fall taking them perilously close to the edge of the ravine.

Instinct had Jared wanting to get up to help, but the rifle being steadily held on him kept him down.

The two alphas fought and grappled with each other. A moment later, they broke apart, breaths heaving. Piero had the advantage when he got to his feet first. He kicked Jensen’s legs out from under him as he was getting back up and Jensen fell down to his knees.

Jared shouted when Piero swung his weapon down against the left side of Jensen’s head, the jarring sound of metal impacting with bone making Jared feel sick. In the next moment, Piero lifted his foot and kicked Jensen, boot connecting solidly with his chest. Jensen, dazed and already listing to the side from the hit he’d taken to the temple, barely had a chance to react.

“Jensen!” Jared yelled. He looked between the rifle pointed at himself and then his best friend. _What the hell was he going to do?_ Jared couldn’t watch this. He needed to get up. He needed to get to Jensen. _Now_.

Vanco shouted at Jared when he saw Jared shift to get a foot beneath him. “¡No! ¡Quédate abajo!”

Jared knew what that meant. Stay put… or else. His gaze turned back to Jensen who had somehow managed to get back up on his feet, but was now standing too close to the edge for comfort. Piero was closing in on him, intent very clear in his body language.

Jared risked a glance up at Vanco who was still standing over him. He looked back at Piero and Jensen. “Screw it,” he mumbled. Call him crazy, but if they were going to go down, they were going to go down together.

He leapt up, stunning Vanco with a right hook before he could react, and ran over to Jensen just as he was taking a step back, his right foot coming down on slick mud, heel just over the edge. Jared saw the panicked look in Jensen’s eyes just as he started to go over, arms fruitlessly wind-milling to catch his balance. Jared pushed Piero aside and reached out to catch a flailing hand, but they were both wet and muddy and Jared didn’t have the traction he needed.

The next thing he knew, the world was toppling end over end and they were falling through the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations...  
> ¿Estás listo para hacer esto? = Are you ready to do this?
> 
> Sí, vamos a terminar con esto. = Yes, let's finish this.
> 
> ¡No! ¡Quédate abajo! = No! Stay down!


	7. Chapter 7

 

 _April 5, 2009_ _| Day 2 | 11:37am_

 

Jared groaned; he was hurting all over. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been out, but he clearly remembered the tree his head had connected with on his tumble down the side of the hill.

And what the—?

He opened his eyes, vision blurry, and stilled at the upside-down image he was seeing. He blinked not sure if it was real or a figment of his imagination. _Did concussions cause hallucinations?_ Something told him he should know the answer to that; Sam was, after all, King of Concussions.

Peering down at him with wide, dark eyes, tiny hands still in Jared’s hair, was a monkey. As they stared at one another, Jared remained motionless not wanting to upset the creature. It looked cute enough, but that didn't mean it wouldn't attack if it got scared.

The monkey frowned down at him, furry head tilting inquisitively to the side as it scrutinized Jared. Funnily enough, Jared could see intelligence in that gaze. Then it gave a sudden, ear-piercing screech and raced up the nearest tree. Well, that was interesting while it lasted.

Jared lay there and stared up at the lush canopy of the trees towering over him; he'd just been knocked silly and needed a moment. It had stopped raining at some point, but large drops of water still continued to fall from above. He closed his eyes when the trees and the sky started to spin, but it didn't do much to help his stomach which was starting to rebel. He rolled to his side and lost what little he’d eaten for breakfast.

 _Oh, yeah. Definitely concussed_.

"Shit," he muttered as he slowly forced himself to sit up, closing his eyes until the earth stopped tilting and whirling around him, and then he took in his surroundings; Jensen had to be somewhere close by. He eyed the long slope that the two of them had pin-balled down between trees and various other obstacles—it was steep, but apparently not as deadly as he’d thought it to be since he was currently alive and breathing—and scanned the overgrown landscape looking for the alpha. Unfortunately, the plants were all at least waist-high and made it rather difficult to find someone who was probably still knocked out cold somewhere.

The good thing was (if there was such a thing in a situation like this), he saw no sign of the Flores brothers. Jared glanced up at the road above and didn’t see their Land Rover either. It looked like the men had decided it wasn’t worth their while hunting them down after their fall. Although, that didn’t exactly make Jared feel any better. That just meant Vanco and Piero weren't too worried about Jared and Jensen finding their way out of this alive. Jared pursed his lips at the unsettling thought.

But first things first, he had to find Jensen.

Jared tested out his limbs, first his arms and then his legs, to make sure nothing was broken. He was sore, but he was okay aside from the variety of scrapes and bruises crisscrossing his bare arms and legs. He could only hope Jensen had been just as lucky. Superficial wounds healed quickly enough, but broken bones were another matter entirely.

Once he was satisfied that he was more or less in one piece, Jared got up on shaky legs. He leaned against the rubber tree at his back and swept his wet and muddy hair back from his face. He ignored the fact that he had just had a monkey “grooming” him while he’d been unconscious _. God, how Jensen would tease him endlessly if he ever found out about that._

He cleared his throat and called out, voice cracking and throat burning with the bitter taste of bile. “Jen?”

There was no response, just the noisy calls of birds and monkeys and the quiet patter of raindrops on leaves. He took another deep breath, the fresh, moist air of the rainforest filling his lungs and tried again, this time a little louder. “Jensen!”

He was rewarded with a muffled groan. It was coming from somewhere off to his left and about a dozen paces back toward the embankment.

“Jay?”

It didn’t take long for Jared to work his way through the brush and locate Jensen. He dropped to his knees when he reached him and helped him roll over to his back; the side of his face was covered in mud. Jared immediately began looking him over, assessing him for injuries.

Jensen opened his eyes, squinting against the bright light of the afternoon, and looked up at Jared. “Y’okay?” he asked.

“Jesus, Jen. You’re asking me if I’m okay? You’re the one who—”

“Just… are you?"

Jared let out a sigh. “Yes. I’m perfectly fine.” He didn't bother mentioning the mild concussion. There was no point in worrying Jensen when he'd be okay in another hour or so.

“Good. That’s all that matters.” Jensen started to sit up. He pressed the heel of his hand to his temple and cursed. “Fucker got me good, didn’t he?” He pulled his hand away and looked at the brown and crimson mixture of blood and dirt on his palm.

“What the hell were you thinkin’?" Fear began to seep in, fueling Jared's words; he couldn't help it. "You don’t go jumpin’ some dude with a gun like that!”

“Was protectin’ your sorry ass," Jensen snapped back. He grimaced as he continued to prod at the gash on the side of his head. "He was gonna _shoot_ you, Jay. What the hell were _you_ thinkin’ risking your life for your damn wallet and shit? That stuff’s replaceable; you’re not. This isn’t a damn TV show! I can't bring you back from the dead!”

Jared turned his eyes away from Jensen. He couldn’t answer that particular question. Answering it would force him to confess what he’d been hiding for so long. When he’d seen Vanco pocketing his supps, fear of being found out had overridden any and all sensibility for that one harried second—and for that, he’d almost gotten them both killed.

“I… don’t know. I just saw them taking our stuff and I… don’t know. I kinda… freaked, I guess.” The last few words were barely audible as his emotions started bubbling their way to the surface.

A tear slipped down Jared's mud-streaked cheek; he looked back at Jensen then. This whole situation was just so overwhelming. _He’d almost gotten Jensen killed._  The words played on repeat in his head. A sob escaped from between his lips.

“Jesus, Jay. C’mere.”

Jensen held his arms out and Jared fell into the embrace. And he wept like a goddamn baby.

“‘M so sorry, Jen.” His words were wet and he sniffled.

“It’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna be okay.”

Jensen squeezed him tighter.

~*~

 _April 5, 2009_ _| Day 2 | 1:24pm_

 

Jared must have dozed off or passed back out; he didn’t know which, but semantics… When he woke again, he saw that the sun had shifted in the sky and he was now surrounded by some of their gear. There was a rustling noise nearby and he pushed up from where he'd been sleeping on the forest floor.

“You’re awake,” Jensen commented as he came into view. He dropped one of the plastic water containers to the ground at his feet.

Jensen was filthier than Jared had ever seen him. His shirt was soaked through with sweat and his face was streaked with dirt from where he’d tried to wipe it away; his usually perfectly-styled hair was currently matted down with drying mud. And his clothing had definitely seen better days as well.

“What’re you doing?” Jared ran his fingers through his own hair, scrubbing the loose plant debris and whatever else out of it. _What a sight the two of them must make right now._

“What’s it look like? I went back up and scavenged what I could while you were getting your beauty rest.”

“But, Jen, what if they—?”

“It's been well over an hour, closer to two if I had to guess; they’re long gone. Good thing is, it doesn’t look like they took anything we’d already unloaded. And they left the rest of our stuff.” Jensen shed his backpack off his shoulders and let it fall beside the other stuff he’d already brought down. “It’s wet, but it’ll dry out.”

Jared stood up and looked around at the things Jensen had collected: three three-and-a-half-gallon water containers, Jared’s pack (re-packed), a crate of MREs and jerky, and Jensen’s pack. He’d had to have made at least four or five trips back up to the road above and that couldn’t have been easy.

“Shouldn’t we have maybe gone back up and followed the road back?” Jared didn’t want to second guess Jensen, and he felt a little guilty for asking after all Jensen’s hard work, but he thought the question was valid.

“I thought about it, but fact of the matter is, I don’t think we’d make it, Jay, not on foot anyway. We’re miles from anywhere. I think our best chance is heading east toward the river. There’s gotta be boats goin’ up and down that thing every day.”

As Jensen spoke, the reality of their situation started to sink in. Jared looked around them taking in their meager supplies, the miles of wilderness surrounding them—the sun’s rays were barely able to filter through the thick canopy above, muting the afternoon light—and then he looked at the determined expression on Jensen’s face.

Jensen must have seen something in Jared's eyes because he reached up to grip the nape of Jared's neck in a reassuring gesture. “We’ll make it, Jay. Don’t give up on us already.”

Jared leaned into Jensen, accepting the alpha’s comfort. “I’m not.”

“Good.” Jensen stepped away and Jared’s omega nearly wept at the loss of the touch. “So I was thinking we should head that way for a while,” he pointed off toward what Jared knew as east from the sun’s position in the sky, “then break for camp. I don’t wanna stick around here, just in case. But I don’t think we should take on too much today after earlier. We need the rest. And the sun’s not gonna stay up forever.”

Jared nodded. “Yeah, okay.” He saw Jensen dabbing at his temple. It looked like it was bleeding again. “Did they happen to leave the med kit?”

“Yeah, it’s in your bag. Why?”

“‘Cause we’re not going anywhere until we get that cleaned up.” Jared pointed at Jensen’s head wound. “The last thing we need is you getting an infection out here.”

Jensen nodded. “Yeah, I suppose not.”

~*~

 _April 5, 2009_ _| Day 2 | 3:39pm_

 

They'd walked for close to two hours and there was still no sign of the river. The hike wasn’t easy by any means—aside from the packs on their backs, Jared carried the crate of food and one water container while Jensen led carrying two of the plastic jugs; it was a lot of weight for each of them—but they were managing for the moment. But it wasn’t just the burden they were carrying that was slowing their progress, it was the mud and the labyrinth of roots twisting and catching at their ankles, and in some places the trees had grown so close together that the vines hanging between them blocked their way and they were forced to take a few detours.

They’d considered pitching one of the water containers so Jensen could have a free hand for the machete, but had ultimately decided against it. Clean water wasn’t something to take for granted out here; the few water purification tablets they had would be used as a last resort. They also had no idea how long it was going to take to reach the river. It could take days and water was an absolute necessity if they were going to survive long enough to see it.

At one point not too far into their journey, they came across an old, and somewhat unsafe-looking, bridge. Jared stopped at its edge, sweat prickling along his spine under his t-shirt, and looked at it, mentally evaluating its ability to hold them up. Almost too long and too narrow, the bridge was constructed from wood and thick rope and spanned the gap across a gully that looked like it was roughly four hundred feet deep. Far below, there was a river, not the Amazon by any means, but not a small stream either. Jared wasn’t too keen on crossing it, but they had no choice if they were to keep going in the direction they needed to.

Jensen stepped up next to Jared and set his water containers down. “Hang back. Let me check it out.” Without waiting for a reply, he sidestepped Jared and started walking across it, testing out every board he stepped on before putting down his full weight.

Jared watched with bated breath as Jensen inched his way over the structure.

The alpha was about three-quarters of the way to the other side when his foot broke through a weak slat. The wooden pieces of the plank fell through the air and Jared and Jensen both watched as they disappeared into the raging waters below. That was the only mishap before Jensen got to solid ground on the far side.

He turned around and came back across. “Easy as pie. C’mon,” he said as he picked up the water and started over again.

“Yeah, says you,” Jared complained as he picked up his things. “I weigh more than you do.”

“Not my fault you’re a giant, giant,” Jensen quipped back over his shoulder.

Once Jensen reached the other side, Jared followed without incident. It was a good thing he wasn't scared of heights.

When they finally found a reasonably flat and clear spot of land, Jensen dropped his stuff. “I think this is the best we’re gonna get.” Miraculously, his fedora had shown up on his head again and he took it off to swipe a hand through the short spikes of his hair.

“I’ll start on the tent if you want to see about getting a fire going,” Jared offered as he set his things next to Jensen’s and crouched down to begin unbuckling the tent from the bottom of his pack. He was exhausted (and hungry) and could see the strain of the hike on Jensen’s face as well; the heat and humidity wasn’t exactly helping them either.

“Yeah, okay. Just watch for critters.” Jensen looked up into the trees and then let his eyes scan the area around them. “I may have been messin’ with you the other day, but we both know what’s out here. I’m expecting to get back to LA in one piece with you by my side.”

Jared nodded. “Same goes for you.”

~*~

 _April 6, 2009_ _| Day 3 | 7:21am_

 

The tent was empty when Jared woke up. They hadn’t talked much the night before once they’d bedded down, each lost in their own thoughts and too tired to muster up the energy for conversation. When sleep had come, it had pulled Jared under so completely, he hadn’t cracked open an eye until now.

He was a bit concerned about how the next few days were going to unfold. First and foremost, Jared had to look at this whole situation as if they were going to make it out of here alive. He— _they_ —had no other choice; it’s what would get them up in the mornings and keep them going. So, accepting that, Jared had another thing on his mind: sometime in the next half day, his supps were going to start to wear off and his omega scent would begin to bleed through the synthetic alpha pheromones. He wasn’t sure what the hell he was going to do when that happened. It wasn’t like he was going to be able to avoid being around Jensen until he could get his hands on another prescription.

As if being lost in the jungle wasn’t bad enough.

Jared groaned and turned over. He really needed a pillow he could take his frustrations out on.

~*~

 _April 6, 2009_ _| Day 3 | 9:17pm_

 

They hadn't made much progress today. Jared guessed they'd covered a few scant miles at best; it wasn't like the untamed jungle had any clear-cut paths conveniently running through it. One thing they'd learned after their first day out was that it was best to travel in the morning hours. After that, the heat and humidity became almost unbearable. Sometime not long after midday, they'd searched out another suitable place to set up the tent and they'd called it quits.

“You comin’ to bed?” Jensen asked as he pulled his sweat-stained shirt up over his head. He was standing just outside the tent. He smacked himself in the arm killing another mosquito, the thousandth of today. “I swear… these suckers better not give me yellow fever,” he growled.

Jared was currently sitting by the fire, gaze lost in the flames as it popped and crackled. He’d grown quiet as the hours had passed. When Jensen had asked him about it, Jared had blamed the heat and exhaustion, and quite possibly a bit of residual shock from the last twenty-four hours. Jensen had let it go without question.

What Jensen didn’t know was that with every minute that ticked by, Jared was growing even more panicked. His hopes of finding the river today had been dashed. The conversation he’d avoided for years might actually have to be had in the very near future. If he didn’t tell Jensen, Jensen would figure things out on his own pretty quickly—and then where would that leave Jared? More than likely down one best friend.

For now, Jared would try to stay away from Jensen as much as he could, or just keep downwind of him, or something…

Jared pulled his gaze up from the fire and looked at Jensen; the alpha looked ethereal in the warm glow of the fire.

“I’ll be in soon.”

~*~

 _April 7, 2009_ _| Day 4 | 11:01am_

 

It had rained on and off all night long. They’d been given a reprieve for the last twenty minutes, but Jared felt the pitter-patter of raindrops on his skin again and looked up at the cloud-darkened sky. He couldn’t tell if it was residual water falling from the trees or if they were about to get drenched again.

“Peru… Had to go to Peru,” he muttered too quietly for Jensen to hear. He put his head back down and trudged slowly through the sludge at his feet. Jensen was ahead of him and Jared was doing his best to keep pace with the alpha.

Jared had woken up this morning feeling like absolute shit. Not only was he feverish (hopefully, it wasn’t yellow fever; Jensen might've been rubbing off on him just a little bit), but he’d also gone from zero to sixty on the bitch-o-meter in a matter of a couple hours which meant his hormones were all out of whack from being off the supps for the first time in years. He felt bad for having snapped at Jensen on a few occasions since waking up, but he couldn't help it. This whole thing sucked… more than anything had ever sucked before.

He hadn’t noticed how far he’d fallen behind as they made their way through the jungle. He also hadn’t noticed when Jensen had stopped and started walking back toward him.

“Hey, you feelin’ okay?”

Jared nearly jumped out of his shoes when Jensen’s voice rang out just a step in front of him, he’d been so deep in his thoughts.

“'M fine.”

Jared took half a step back. Jensen was too close; he couldn’t be that close. Jared knew that, by now, Jensen would scent him if he got too near. Maybe Jared should be appreciative of the rain. At least it would help hide things a little longer.

“Jay, if you’re not feeling well, we can stop.”

Jensen reached out to tilt Jared’s head up, but Jared pulled away, probably too quickly to be considered anything but guilty.

“No. Just keep walking.”

Jared didn’t look up. He couldn’t make eye contact because then Jensen would _know_ something was up. Instead, he kept his eyes on the ground ahead of him. He could see Jensen’s mud-covered Alden’s; they were far from the pristine condition they’d been in just a couple days ago. Jensen didn’t move. Jared wasn’t surprised given that the alpha was just as stubborn as he was.

“Don’t give me that crap. You’re not ‘fine.’ You _know_ I know you better than that. Hell, I bet I know you better than your own mama.” Jared pulled his gaze up from the ground at that; clearly, this wasn’t a battle he was going to win. When he looked at Jensen, he didn’t see anger in his eyes, but rather, concern. “C’mon. We’ll stop here and grab a bite to eat. If you’re feelin’ better after, we’ll try to put another mile or so behind us before it starts gettin' too hot. And if we’re lucky, maybe the sky’ll stop pissin’ on us for more than a few minutes.”

Jensen set the two full water containers he’d been carrying down—the one Jared had was almost empty after the last day—and then he dropped his backpack to the ground. Jared had no choice but to follow suit.

~*~

 _April 7, 2009_ _| Day 4 | 11:43am_

 

Jared didn’t really want to say anything, but he wasn’t hungry. While Jensen was already through his ration of food and was washing it down with a cup of water, Jared had barely managed to swallow more than two bites of a protein bar.

He didn’t miss the fact that Jensen was surreptitiously watching him the entire time.

“You gonna talk to me about what’s goin’ on?” Jensen asked from where he was seated on a fallen tree. He finished his water off and set the empty cup at his feet.

And there it was.

Jared swallowed down a too-large lump of protein bar. His throat was dry and his sorry excuse for a meal didn’t seem to want to go anywhere.

Jensen had been patient. He hadn’t asked questions; he’d kept quiet while they’d unpacked and eaten. It seemed like his patience had reached its limit though. And Jared had too much respect for his friend to treat him like he was an idiot. Jensen had to know something was up by now.

“Jen…” _Oh, dear god, were they going to have this conversation now?_ He wasn’t ready yet. Fuck, he hadn’t been ready in four and a half years.

Jared’s skin was starting to feel tight and itchy. He could feel his pulse beating under his too-sensitive flesh. He suddenly couldn’t sit still; he needed to move.

“I…” Jared stood up, knocking his cup of water over in the process. “I…”

Suddenly, Jared was racked with a cramp so bad in his abdomen that he folded over on himself and cried out. Jensen was at his side in a heartbeat and Jared was too shaken to push him away.

And then he felt it…

Oh, god.

_Nonononono._

Slick.

Jared was going into heat.


	8. Chapter 8

 

 _April 7, 2009_ _| Day 4 | 11:57am_

 

Sheer panic took over. Jared closed his eyes and tried to breath. All he got for that was the scent of autumn and cinnamon with a hint of citrus—Jensen’s scent—filling his nose. It smelled like home. And just that thought alone had him trying to pull himself free from Jensen’s strong and steadying grip on his shoulders.

He. Couldn’t. Do. This.

Jared managed to shake Jensen off and stumbled backward. He tripped over his own feet in his rush and went down on his ass in the mud. Jared looked around, eyes wildly searching for a place to run, somewhere to hide and just wait this out, somewhere he could go to gather his thoughts. Someone would eventually figure out where they were; someone would rescue them. And then Jared would hop the first flight back to Texas. After all, Jensen would probably never want to see him again now that he knew Jared had been keeping something this big from him all these years.

Jared got his feet back under him. He saw that Jensen hadn’t moved from where he’d been. Jensen looked too stunned to do anything other than just stare at Jared.

“I’m sorry,” Jared said before he bolted into the trees not watching or caring where he was headed or what kind of dangers might be out there. He just needed to get away. The rational part of him told him there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, but he kept running.

“Jared!”

It took a few seconds, but Jared heard Jensen’s heavy, booted steps racing after him. Jared lengthened his stride, long legs carrying him further into the jungle.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” he heard Jensen swear. “Jared, c’mon. Don’t do this.”

Jared continued to run blindly through the trees. He only stopped when he suddenly ran out of ground, the Amazon River having carved its path through the rainforest and leaving Jared looking down at it from several hundred feet above.

“Shit,” he yelped when his feet skated across fallen leaves and slippery, rain-soaked earth. He reached out and grabbed at the nearest tree to keep from going over.

Jensen jogged up next to him and came to a stop, hands resting on his knees as he caught his breath. “What the hell, man?” he huffed out. “Are you insane?”

Jared turned around. He looked at Jensen and slowly shook his head. “Jensen,” he whispered, still unsure of what to do, what to say.

Alphas could scent an omega from across the room; Jensen had to have figured out that part by now even if he hadn't yet picked up on Jared's heat. He would find out soon enough though. Even as he stood there, Jared could feel slick seeping from his hole.

Sure, he’d lusted after Jensen for years—he’d gone as far as letting himself fall in love with the alpha even though he knew he could never have him—but this scenario was so far removed from anything he’d ever imagined, and he didn’t want this forced on Jensen.

“Jay,” Jensen said as he cautiously approached Jared, treating him as if he were some kind of cornered animal, “calm down, okay? I'm not really gettin' why you took off like a bat outta Hell like you did, but can we just get you away from the edge. It’ll make me feel a whole heck of a lot better.”

Jared looked behind him at the distant shimmer of dark water that stretched out below; he was damn near teetering on the brink. Jensen had a point and he took a step away from the edge. He was freaked, not suicidal.

Jensen reached out for Jared, something that was normally quite natural for the two of them on a day-to-day basis, but Jared sidestepped him.

“Don’t.” When he saw the hurt in Jensen’s eyes, Jared’s shoulders fell. “Please… I just can’t. Not now.”

Jensen backed up a step, then tucked his hands into his pockets and focused on some point over Jared’s shoulder, the expression on his face becoming painfully distant.

Jensen was acting like he wasn't sure what was going on, but that look, alone, told Jared he had enough of an idea. Jared was suddenly feeling more than just the physical separation between them; Jensen couldn’t even look at him. This is what he'd been so afraid of, his deepest fear come true.

A too long moment of silence passed between them before Jensen took a deep breath, nostrils flaring, and looked at Jared again. Jared wasn’t so far away that he couldn’t see the alpha’s pupils were dilated, the green of his irises nearly non-existent. “You’re going into heat.” It most definitely was not a question.

Things couldn’t be any more awkward between them than they were right now. Both knew what that meant. Jared was an omega in heat and Jensen was the only alpha for miles around. Instinct and need were sure to take over before all was said and done. And this wasn’t something Jensen wanted. _Fuck, Jensen had come here to get over his break up with Danneel, not hook up with Jared._ Jared couldn't even begin to fathom how betrayed Jensen must feel right now, to be caught up in this mess Jared had created.

“Jen,” the name came out almost too quietly, “I’m so sorry. This was never supposed to happen.”

Jensen glanced off somewhere into the trees. It looked as if he was trying really hard to figure out how to say what he needed to. When his eyes came back to Jared, he said, “Look, Jay, I get that there’s some stuff we obviously need to talk about and that you’re sorry."

Jared dropped his eyes to the ground, guilt overwhelming him and making him want to disappear. He'd done this. He'd broken something so special...

Jensen took a step toward Jared, but stopped the moment Jared stiffened.

"Jared..." Jensen sighed. "Dammit. I know what's going through that head of yours, so just stop. You know me better than that. I forgive you, all right?"

Jared's eyes snapped back up to Jensen at that.  _What?_ _Jensen was forgiving him... just like that?_ Jensen looked as sincere as he sounded.

When Jared didn't say anything, Jensen raised a single, expectant eyebrow. Jared sucked his bottom lip in and nodded; simple speech seemed to elude him at the moment.

"Okay, good. The rest of everything, we can sort out later because, right now," Jensen continued, "I think we should be a little more concerned about what's happenin' with you. This isn't something we can just ignore."

Jared shifted, feeling the uncomfortable slip-slide of slick in his boxers. That feeling of awkwardness? Apparently, it could get worse. Jared would really rather not have this conversation... ever.  _How was Jensen so damn calm?_

"When was the last time you were in heat?" Jensen asked. "It couldn’t have been in the last few months because we’ve been filming and doing conventions. Was it during winter hiatus?”

Jared knew what Jensen was doing. He was trying to get an idea of how bad Jared’s heat was going to be, how long it would be until the inevitable would have to happen. The more time between heats, the worse they were and the sooner the omega would need to be… _satisfied_.

"No," Jared replied quietly. Hiatus was four and a half months ago.

“Thanksgiving, then?”

Again, no.

Jared chewed on the inside of his cheek. Jensen was digging and he wasn’t going to like the answer when he found it. Knowing him and how protective he’d always been of Jared, like an alpha protecting his…

Jared’s train of thought abruptly derailed. _Holy shit. Really?_

“You knew.” Jared narrowed his eyes at Jensen. “How long?”

Jensen pursed his lips.

“Goddammit, Jensen. Tell me. This was my secret. Mine to keep, mine to share.”

Green eyes met with hazel. Jared had just caught Jensen out. Jensen glanced at the ground guiltily, then back to Jared. It made Jared wonder what else the alpha might know that he wasn’t telling him. Jared tried not to think too much on that.

Jensen cleared his throat. “I’ve known for years, almost as long as I’ve known you,” he admitted.

“How?”

Jensen scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “We were, uh, doing an overnight on location and I left my phone in your trailer. Kim was re-shooting a scene with you and I went to grab it. I was sore from some stunt and, while I was there, I went looking for something to take for it—I didn’t think you’d mind—and well, I might’ve found your supps while looking for some ibuprofen.” His eyebrows rose and he gave a small shrug.

“And you never said anything?”

“Like you said, your secret to share.”

That made Jared laugh bitterly. Jensen had known all along. Jared thought back to all those times he’d tried so hard to keep his nature hidden from the alpha. What about all those times he’d sat up late at night wondering how to tell his best friend what he was, only to chicken out by the time the sun rose? Jared found himself growing more and more irritated by the minute. He couldn’t help it. Blame his newly rampant hormones if you had to.

“Does anyone else know?”

Jensen seemed like he understood that now was no longer the time for holding out. The alpha became all too quiet before letting out a sigh. Jared tensed wondering whom Jensen had told.

“Danni. She knows. That’s it though. I swear, Jared.”

Okay, that could’ve been worse. Jared trusts Dan—

_And, oh Jesus, fuck!_

Jared buckled as another cramp surged through him. The ground came rushing up at him, but Jensen was there to catch him. Jared’s raw nerves tingled wherever Jensen touched bare skin. It was too much and too little all at once. His head swam and he felt another gush of warmth down below.

Jared gripped Jensen’s shirt with shaky hands and looked up at him through a mess of bangs. A desperate and needy noise escaped from his throat.

"Shhh… I got you. You're gonna be okay." Jensen looked like an angel, the afternoon sunlight casting a pale, golden glow over the crown of his head. His fingers caressed the side of Jared's flushed cheek. "And stop worrying about us. We're gonna be okay. But this is important, Jay, you never answered my question. You gotta tell me, when was the last time you were in heat?"

Jared wet his dry lips and closed his eyes. “Almost eight years ago,” he confessed.

He heard Jensen curse, but Jared had his own question looming in his head: _How was he in heat after just thirty-six hours?_ Just missing a pill or two wasn’t enough to throw an omega into heat so quickly. Only the presence of…

_No. It couldn't be._

The sudden light-bulb moment was far too much for Jared to handle on top of everything else that had happened in the last half hour. When Jensen's arms wrapped around him and pulled him close, Jared gave in, letting his head come to rest on the alpha's shoulder.

He trusted Jensen to keep him safe.

Because Jensen wasn’t just some alpha; he was Jared’s natural mate, something akin to the mythical soulmate. It was a connection that ran all the way down to a molecular level. Jared and Jensen were meant to be together.

There was no other explanation.

~*~

 _April 7, 2009_ _| Day 4 | 1:17pm_

 

Jared had presented as an omega just after his fifteenth birthday. The following year, he’d started on his supps. During his initial consultation with his doctor, he’d been explicitly warned not to deny his body its heats; it wasn’t healthy to go more than six months without one—every three to four months was preferable. Jared had followed his doctor’s recommendation, but only for the first two years. Then he’d moved to LA where there was no time for heats if one wanted to make it big. There was also the fact that Jared didn’t like going into heat. (What omega did?) Anywhere from five to seven days of feverishly jerking off, stuffing the biggest dildos he could find up his ass, and dry humping his bed without any relief in sight, not to mention the unending amounts of slick… Yeah, no. Jared had opted long ago to take his chances.

How could Jared have known something like this was going to happen?

Jared shivered. His body was so hot that he felt cold; it didn’t matter that it was roughly ninety-five degrees out. And he didn’t want to think about the things his body was craving either. Every time his gaze lingered on the _hot fucking alpha_ that Jensen was for too long—and goddammit, he was doing it again—he forced himself to look away. It wasn’t going to be easy, but he could get through this without Jensen’s knot.

But then there was the whole _Natural Mate_ thing… That was going to make this ever so much more difficult; his omega was going to be yearning for its mate. _It already is, you moron._ He wondered if Jensen had figured it out yet.

Jared was drawn out of his thoughts when he heard Jensen curse loudly. When he looked up, Jared saw a tan streak of fur running off into the brush: a monkey. He allowed himself a small smile wondering what the animal had done to get in the alpha’s good graces.

The monkey wasn’t the only one to claim that particular feat. Jared shared the spotlight on that one. He’d seen it on Jensen’s face earlier: Jensen wanted to wring his neck for being so reckless with his health. Jared had also heard Jensen mumbling to himself on their hike back that he should have noticed Jared hadn’t been taking care of himself properly. _Seriously? How was this, in any way, on Jensen’s shoulders?_ If Jared was feeling better, he’d have to smack the alpha upside his head to knock some sense into him.

After helping Jared back to their makeshift camp, Jensen had busied himself setting up the tent refusing to walk another mile, not with Jared in his condition. Jensen had been quiet ever since Jared’s confession, almost too quiet, evidence that he knew the inevitable outcome as well as Jared. Jared might be in denial of the fact (and he was still mentally denying it right this very second), but they were going to have to fuck before this ordeal was over—and the clock was ticking if how Jared was feeling and the increasing slick between his ass cheeks were any indication.

Jared had never been with an alpha before, had never allowed himself in fear of being found out. (A story like that was worth money to the tabloids.) He tried to imagine what it would be like to have Jensen’s knot sinking into him and tying them together. Something inside him warmed knowing he would know, first-hand, what it was like sooner rather than later. He sucked in a breath at the thought; another burst of slick seeped into his boxers and his cock began to swell in his shorts. He shifted uncomfortably where he sat and adjusted himself with a grimace.

Jared didn’t know how Jensen did it; his restraint was to be commended. He’d seen the alpha watching him, but he hadn’t once made a move. Natural Mates aside, any other alpha would have been all over Jared by now. It wasn’t as if Jensen _wasn’t_ affected. Jared could see it plain as day in the flushed cheeks, the blown pupils, and the tension spread out across his broad shoulders as well as scent it; Jensen’s pheromones were running high. His alpha had to be screaming, clawing to get out, and, yet, Jensen was still holding back.

Jensen must’ve felt Jared’s eyes on him. “You wanna talk about it?” he asked from where he was tying one of the support lines down.

Jared wrapped his arms around his middle and stared down at his feet. His skin was covered in goosebumps and he was still shivering. “Not much to talk about,” he mumbled.

Jensen yanked the knot tight and stood up. He spun on his heel. “Bullshit, Jared! You look like crap. And that’s nothing compared to what you’re gonna be like in a few hours.”

“Don’t tell me what it’s gonna be like, Jensen,” Jared growled. “Not unless you’ve been there, done that, like I have.”

“Okay, then since you’re the _experienced_ one here, why don’t you tell me how hard you think this heat’s gonna hit you? ‘Cause last I knew, omegas aren’t supposed to wait _eight years_ in between heats. This thing… Fuck, Jay!” Jensen ran his fingers through his hair and turned back around so Jared couldn’t see his face.

The words didn’t have to be said. Jared understood perfectly well what Jensen wasn’t saying: this had the potential to kill him.

Jensen strode over to the next aluminum pole and yanked it into place a little harder than necessary, his frustration rising to the surface. He finished securing the remaining poles and gave a few tugs to make sure the tent wasn’t going anywhere. He didn’t say anything for a while after that and Jared sat watching him.

Jared understood why Jensen was so angry; he was worried. But he didn’t need to be reminded of what he was going to be going through. He knew well enough all on his own.

“You wanna know why I brought you here?” Jensen asked out of the blue; he turned to face Jared once more.

Jared’s eyes snapped up to the alpha’s. He knew why they were here, because Jensen and Danneel had broken up. At least he thought that was the reason…

“You’re thinkin’ me and Danni had some kind of fight and broke up, that I needed to come here to, I don’t know, find myself or something. But that’s not what this was all about, and I’ll apologize in advance because I’m sorry I could never tell you what was really going on between her and I.”

Okay, what? Jared was confused now. _Could_ never _?_ What the hell was that supposed to mean? And what did this have to do with Jared and what was going on now?

Jensen’s relationship with Danneel had always been a mystery to Jared. If there was one facet of Jensen’s life he didn’t know like the back of his own hand, it was that. He’d never known how serious the pair was, if Jensen had claimed the beta or if they were just casually dating. He’d only known the generalities: the two had been best friends since long before _Supernatural_ ; they’d become an item roughly two years ago after filming an indie flick together; Danneel lived almost exclusively in LA showing up here and there in various TV shows and films as well as doing some side work in modeling—she rarely came up to Vancouver. Usually, it was Jensen catching a flight down to LA whenever he could. If Jared asked about them, Jensen would only give vague answers. It looked as if he was about to get a few of those answers now.

Jensen looked down at the ground and took a moment before he started up again.

“We didn’t break up… because we were never _together_ in the first place. She and I, we’ve never been more than just friends, Jay. We only made it look like we were in a relationship to help boost our careers, you know, be that ‘perfect Hollywood couple’ for the cameras and play off each other’s successes.

“It was all our agents’ idea. ‘Others do it,’ they’d said. And it worked. How do you think I landed that movie deal last year? Our families are the only ones who know the truth… and now you. I hate the fact that I couldn’t tell you sooner, but there were NDAs in place; I was contractually obligated to keep my mouth shut until just recently.”

 _But…_ Jared’s head was spinning. “But you and she…” he said out loud. He knew Jensen and Danneel’s relationship (contractual or not) wasn’t exactly platonic. He’d smelled the beta all over Jensen on more than a few occasions over the last couple years.

“Yeah, we did,” Jensen admitted. “But it was a convenience thing… for both of us, nothing more. We haven’t been together for a while now… months.”

Jared didn’t know what to say. Jensen’s perfect relationship was just as much of a sham as his own; he couldn’t get angry.

But what point was Jensen trying to make by confessing all this now? It was doing nothing to make Jared feel any better about their current situation. All it told him was that Jensen was going from one unwanted relationship to another. And what the hell was up with Peru?

“You still haven’t told me why we’re here,” Jared stated. He wiped at the sweat beading up on his brow. What he wouldn’t give for an ice cold beer right now.

“That’s a little more complicated.”

Jared lifted an eyebrow. “Complicated? Jen, what the fuck is more complicated than faking a relationship for two years?”

“I don’t know, Jared. Maybe you should tell me… How’s Gen these days?”

“Don’t,” Jared hissed in warning. He stood up from his seat on one of the water containers. His legs felt like rubber, but he managed to stay upright; his hands were fisted at his sides. “We had our reasons.”

He should’ve known that if Jensen knew about him, then he would have figured that out, too. Beta/Omega pairings weren’t unheard of, but they rarely lasted long; fully mature omegas (ones that allowed themselves to go into heat like they were supposed to, unlike Jared) needed more than any beta could give them, emotionally and physically. Gen was a great beta, but she was no alpha.

“And I’m not sayin’ you didn’t,” Jensen countered. He didn’t back down from Jared, Jared’s height not intimidating the alpha in the least; it never had. “But you gotta cut me some slack here. I’m tryin’ to explain things. If you keep jumping down my throat, that ain’t gonna happen.”

Jared’s gut picked that moment to clench again and he wobbled tremulously on his feet. A different kind of heat flared through his body, then, and he had the sudden urge to rub up against something. He reached down and pressed a palm against the fly of his shorts to alleviate some of the ache. The touch wasn’t anything near what he needed, but he still closed his eyes and groaned in relief.

“Jared?”

Jared froze and opened his eyes only to see dark eyes watching him. If he wasn’t flushed from the heat already, he was sure he’d be pink all the way up to the tips of his ears from embarrassment. “I’m okay. Just…” Jared frowned. He had lost track of their conversation. “What were you saying?”

The alpha shifted uneasily where he stood. Jared was about to ask what was wrong when he happened to catch sight of the erection Jensen wasn’t bothering to hide.

“Jesus, Jay. You don’t know how hard it is to stay away from you right now.” Jensen took a tentative couple steps toward Jared closing the gap between them. He reached up and ran the pads of his fingers along the sensitive skin under Jared’s jaw. “I can feel it, you know. More now than before, but I think on some level I’ve known ever since that day we first met in the casting room. And I’m pretty sure you’ve figured it out by now.

“We’re meant to be together, Jay. We’re Naturals.”

Jensen tipped Jared’s face down and Jared swallowed. Their eyes met briefly before Jensen’s lips brushed over his own.


	9. Chapter 9

 

 _April 7, 2009_ _| Day 4 | 1:49pm_

 

Their kiss deepened and Jared wrapped his arms around Jensen, palms pressing flat against the alpha’s shoulder blades, his omega crying out in relief… _finally!_ But—and there was always a “but”—something was niggling at the back of his mind. He was still lucid enough to know Jensen still hadn’t said he _wanted_ this. Sure, he’d said he’d _known_ since day one about the mate thing, but that didn’t mean he was okay with it. Until then…

Jared wedged his hands up between them and pushed Jensen away. His omega growled and Jared could mentally picture it pacing irritatedly to and fro.

“No.” He backed away, voice cracking. “We can’t. This wasn’t supposed to happen, Jensen,” Jared repeated his words from earlier. “Not like this, _never_ like this.”

His gut tightened causing him to flinch. His dick ached and something deep inside felt empty, hollow. _Oh, god._ Denying himself this—his mate—was going to be pure and utter agony. “I—” His vision blurred and he blinked trying to regain his focus on the alpha in front of him. He swayed ever so slightly when a sudden wave of dizziness swept over him. When Jensen moved to help him, Jared held out a staying hand. “Stay back… _please_.”

“Jared, don’t do this to yourself,” Jensen pleaded. “I’m _right here_.”

Jared took a step further away shaking his head. Jensen was offering himself up on a silver platter, but Jared couldn’t…

Jensen didn’t understand how much was at stake here. Not just their friendship, but what about the life Jared had struggled so hard to build for himself over the last eight years? He didn’t want to lose that. It sounded selfish, but if he mated with Jensen, his status would inevitably get out for the whole world to see. And that was just one of the many reasons he had never told Jensen about himself.

 _Supernatural_ would take a hit as well. Sam Winchester was the epitome of an alpha, right alongside his brother Dean. Who would take him seriously if they knew Jared Padalecki was an omega? Everyone behind the scenes—Kripke, Manners, Singer, even the girls in make-up and wardrobe—would all look at him differently, treat him differently, because he was an omega. The dynamics of everything would change. If the show failed because of that, how many people would be out of work because of _him_? So much depended on Jared being an “alpha.” Too much.

“Jensen,” he whined pitifully, “I can’t. You’d never understand.”

Jensen remained where he was, respecting Jared’s space. “Try me,” he said.

Jared’s legs were shaking and he struggled to remain standing. A knee began to buckle, but he locked it in place.

The sky opened up then. Huge droplets of water poured down on them.

“Goddammit,” Jensen hissed.

The lukewarm rain did nothing to alleviate the heat on Jared’s skin. Every drop was like fire licking at his oversensitive flesh. He hunched his shoulders and hugged himself, making himself a smaller target, but it didn’t help.

“Look, if you’re not gonna let me help you, take some advice from your best friend: get your stubborn ass in the tent so you don’t catch pneumonia on top of everything else.”

Jared nodded and started to turn.

“But, Jay,” Jared stopped and looked back at Jensen, “this isn’t over. You and me? We’re gonna talk, and we’re gonna fix this. I won’t just stand aside and let you do this to yourself.”

Jared pursed his lips. Jensen knew what he was doing; he had added a tinge of Alpha to his words—the bastard—and Jared couldn’t argue with him. His omega wouldn’t let him.

As he unzipped the tent and stepped inside, he thought briefly of the river; it was so goddamn close. But even if they were able to catch a boat right this minute, it would take a couple days to get anywhere civilized. Jared’s heat wasn’t going to wait for them to reach a proper doctor. He wasn’t even sure a doctor could help him at this point anyway. His heat had already taken hold of him.

He toed out of his shoes so as not to track any mud or water inside and stared at the empty interior. There was no more comfort to be had in here than outside. It was just drier.

“Jay,” Jensen called to him from just outside. “Take these.” Their one remaining blanket, a clean rag, a shallow bowl, and a water container were passed through to him. “Wash up and try to get yourself comfortable.”

He stared at the proffered items for a moment before accepting them. He wanted to stubbornly refuse to take them, but what would be the point? “Thanks,” he said quietly as he reached out for them, nerves tingling when his fingers brushed against Jensen’s.

His omega puffed up with pride. Its alpha was taking care of him.

And Jared growled.

~*~

 _April 7, 2009_ _| Day 4 | 4:21pm_

 

“Jared?”

Jared moaned. “Leave me ‘lone. Go ‘way.” He curled in on himself, clutching the scratchy blanket tightly to his bare chest. A fevered chill ran through his body and shook him from head to toe. He was hot, too hot, even in just his boxers. His dick was painfully hard and the slick… He’d washed up before dropping off to sleep, but he could feel it, unrelenting and persistent.

“Jared, wake up. You need to drink something.”

Jared felt a cup being pressed to the corner of his mouth and he instinctively turned toward it. The cool liquid was a balm to his parched throat as he drank what was offered.

A hand was gently placed against his forehead and Jared jolted at the touch, eyes fluttering open. He blinked several times before the blurry image in front of him solidified into Jensen. The alpha was kneeling over him, concern written all over his face.

“Easy, big guy. Just checking on you. You’re burnin’ up.”

Jared rolled over and pressed his heated face into the side of Jensen’s thigh. He inhaled deeply. “Smell so good, Jen, like cinnamon… and oranges… and the fall,” he slurred sleepily.

“Of course, you would think I smell like food,” Jensen chuckled. “I’m surprised I don’t smell like gummi bears to you, you freak.”

“Like you more,” Jared mumbled, still nuzzling into the alpha. He was too deep into the fog of his heat to be embarrassed for his words.

Jensen brushed Jared’s hair away from his face with his fingers and tucked it behind his ear. Jared looked up at him and saw that Jensen had washed up. He was dressed in just a thin t-shirt and boxer briefs; his face was clean and his hair was soft and unkempt-looking.

“You washed,” Jared observed before letting his eyes close. “Clean up nice,” he mumbled.

“Rain’s gotta be good for something. Washed our clothes, too.” Jensen’s hand remained on the side of Jared’s face and his thumb traced slowly back and forth along Jared’s cheekbone. “How’re you feeling?”

Jared opened his eyes again and looked up at the alpha. “Better when you’re close, I think. Stay with me?” Jared reached up and wrapped an arm around Jensen’s middle; he could feel Jensen’s muscles shifting and tensing as he tried to pull him closer. “Don’ wanna do anything, jus’ be with you.” His omega wanted more, but Jared wasn’t willing to give in. He wasn’t that far gone… not yet. Cuddling, on the other hand, he could manage.

“Jay…” Jensen didn’t move. “We do that, I… Jesus, Jay, I can’t promise I’m not gonna want to do more. You’re killin’ me here.”

“Worry about that later.” Jared murmured. He was slipping under again and his arm loosened from around Jensen. Later was another time; he only knew about now. “C’mon… trust you, Jen.”

There was a heavy sigh above him. Jensen moved out of Jared’s hold and then there was a warm body being pressed up behind his own. Jared smiled when Jensen pulled him back against his chest.

His omega hummed in contentment.

Jared did, too.

~*~

 _April 7, 2009_ _| Day 4 | 5:13pm_

 

The empty Jared felt inside earlier? It was a thousand times worse when he woke up an hour later. He whimpered, actually fucking whimpered.

His alpha was pressed up tight against him from behind, arm draped over Jared’s middle, fingers splayed across his stomach, and Jared could feel the hard line of Jensen’s cock slotted up along the crease of his ass, only two layers of cotton keeping them apart. He only vaguely remembered how he’d gotten into this position in the first place, but didn’t much care right about now.

Jared rocked his hips back. The need to be filled, to be knotted, was almost more than he could bear and he groaned as another burst of slick seeped from his body.

Jensen stirred behind him. Moist lips peppered kisses sleepily over Jared’s heated skin.

“Jens…”

“Right here, Jay. I got you.” He thrust slowly up against Jared and Jared moaned.

_Oh, god, yes. So close. He needed that fat, alpha cock so damn bad it hurt._

Jared threaded his fingers with Jensen’s and tilted his head to the side to give Jensen more access to his neck. His body began to move in rhythm with Jensen’s.

“Just tell me what you want,” Jensen murmured hotly into his ear, teeth nipping at the sensitive shell. “Whatever you need.” His hand, with Jared’s fingers still entangled with his own, moved lower and palmed over Jared’s engorged flesh.

Jared cried out pitifully. He needed so much more.

But Jensen’s words wormed their way into what was left of Jared’s rational mind. Again, Jensen was offering himself up. Nothing he was saying, not a single word, told Jared the alpha _wanted_ this. It was hormones and whatever backward sense of obligation Jensen felt for not seeing that Jared hadn’t been taking care of himself properly, maybe even guilt over taking Jared to Peru and getting them in the predicament they were in. Jensen’s sense of responsibility over certain things ran almost as insanely deep as Dean Winchester’s at times.

“Jen, stop.” Jared pulled his hand away from Jensen’s and tried to untangle himself from the alpha who now had a leg wrapped around him as well. Jared’s omega howled in frustration.

Jensen stopped. He pulled his leg away, but didn’t let go; his arm was still around Jared, hand now resting over Jared’s pounding heart. He lifted his head and looked at Jared over Jared’s shoulder, a worried crease in his brow.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“It's not that.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s… Jen,” Jared paused and wet his dry lips, “This? It's not _you_. ’S your alpha.” Jared’s head was filled with the thick haze of heat, but he did his best at getting his point out.

Jensen gave a huff of disbelief.

“My alpha?” Jensen pulled away and Jared suddenly found himself being pushed over until he was lying flat on his back; he blinked trying to bring the alpha over him into focus. “You say that like my ‘alpha’ is another person or something. It’s not. I _am_ an alpha. It's all one thing. And that omega you’re trying to suffocate? Same thing. That’s you, Jay. It’s not some part of you that you can deny.”

“Jen—”

“No. You’re gonna listen to me, and you’re gonna listen real good, ‘cause I’m only gonna say this once… _I_ want this— _you_ —not some _part_ of me, but _all_ of me.” Jensen turned away from Jared and crawled over to his bags.

Jared instantly missed the alpha’s touch and he clenched his fingers into the blanket; he gritted his teeth and swallowed down the moan that started to make its way up his throat. It was god-awful how the ache in his center seemed to grow with every inch Jensen moved away from him. If he’d known he’d hurt this much, maybe he would have followed his doctor’s orders a little more carefully.

“I never did get to finish telling you why I brought you here,” Jensen said.

When he heard the metallic _clink_ of buckles being unfastened, Jared turned his head, sweat-damp hair sticking to the sides of his face, to try to see what the alpha was doing. Aside from the mouth-watering expanse of Jensen’s back and the tease of ass crack peeking out of the waistband of his boxers, Jared saw him opening that dreaded man purse. He hadn’t even realized Jensen still had the thing.

“They didn’t find it when they went through our stuff. I had it stashed inside the lining.” Jensen reached down into the bag and rummaged around. “Ah, here it is.”

He turned around and Jared still couldn’t see what it was that Jensen had taken out. Jared forced himself to sit up, then, grimacing at the warm, wet mess of slick in his boxers. By now, his heart was pounding steadily in his ears and his respirations had jumped up a notch. He was beginning to tremble again. Whatever Jensen was doing, he had better be quick about it. Jared was only going to be able to put on a front for a little bit longer.

“Jay,” Jensen’s eyes met with Jared’s and he chewed on his lip for a moment as if he was trying to figure out what or how best to say what was on his mind, and then he looked down at whatever it was he held hidden in his hand, “it’s taken me some time to figure out how to do this—and Danni might’ve sat me down and threatened to kick my ass if I didn’t; that’s why I was so out of sorts before coming down here—but, well… fuck it.”

He reached out to take Jared’s right hand into his own and placed something hard and cool into it. Jared frowned and brought his hand up to see what it was.

_Oh…_

A Mating Cuff. It was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, simple in design, yet elegant. The metal (platinum?) was twisted and curved into a tight C-shape with the alpha and omega symbols embossed on both ends. Cuffs like these were the modern equivalent of the Omega Collars that had gone out of style so long ago, but without the stigma attached to them.

Jensen scratched at the nape of his neck. “I brought you here because I thought it would be a good place to talk, get things out in the open, and maybe…” He gestured to the cuff. “But then everything went to hell, and now you… Shit. Nothing went as planned, not even close. And I am so fuckin’ sorry about that. All I wanted to do was ask if you’d do me the honor of being my mate.”

Jared was slack-jawed. He looked from the cuff, to Jensen, and then to the cuff again.

_Oh, wow._

“Jensen…” Jared was speechless. Now might not have been the best time to discuss something this important because Jared wasn’t one hundred percent thinking clearly. Even as he sat there, the room tilted and spun; he had to close his eyes for a few seconds to curb the sickening feeling of vertigo. “This… this is what you really want?” He looked up at Jensen again.

Jensen nodded almost shyly. “If you’ll have me.” He took Jared’s trembling hand in both of his. “Look, I know things haven’t been easy for you, that you’ve had to hide who you are, but we can do this, Jay. The people we work with? They love you. Your fans love you. Hell, the fans will probably fall even harder for you once they find out. But I’m not gonna push you into anything. Whatever you want to do, I’ll go along with it. If you want to wait a while, or never tell anyone at all, I’m okay with it.”

Jared felt the sting of tears and blinked them back. He didn’t know what to say. _Jensen_ wanted him. This wasn’t just some hormonal, animalistic, hindbrain thing or some sense of guilt or obligation as Jared had thought. Jensen had planned all this out, had gone as far as buying him a Mating Cuff. He’d even hit upon some of Jared’s worst fears and said they’d face them together.

He wanted to say yes so much.

“You don’t have to give me an answer now. Let’s get you through your heat and get back to the States. If you don’t want it to, nothing has to change between us. I think you already know this, but I’ll say it anyway. Just because we’re Naturals, it doesn’t mean I have to claim you; nothing about this needs to be permanent. I’ll just be your awesome best friend that helped you through a bad spot.” Jensen smirked as he squeezed Jared’s hand tight and then reached up to tuck Jared’s unruly hair back behind his ear again. “No one needs to know.”

Jensen was giving him an out if he needed it. Jared could roll with that for now. He would have to. He knew he couldn’t put his heat off much longer. He nodded. "Yeah. O-okay." Even as he said the word, he felt the muscles in his ass clench and release another bout of slick. He saw Jensen’s nostrils flare as the alpha scented him.

“But, Jen, what if… You _do_ know the likelihood of…” Jared felt a tremor run through him at just the thought. He swallowed tightly. “We do this, I mean, now with my heat, I could—”

Jensen gave Jared a warm, reassuring smile. “If anything happens, I’ll be right beside you, Jay… the whole way. And if it did happen,” the corner of Jensen’s lips twitched, “I would hope it turned out looking like you. You do have those adorable dimples I like so much. And it would have to be a girl, ‘cause that hair? Any girl would kill to have that.”

Jensen reached out and tousled Jared’s hair. His smile fell when Jared didn’t make his usual attempt to slap his hand away like he normally would. Jared just didn’t have the energy; he was using all he had just to remain upright.

Jared looked back down at the cuff still in his hand. “Here.” He gently tucked it back into Jensen’s hand. “Hold onto this. Keep it safe… for now.” His words were growing quiet, almost too hard to hear. Jensen nodded; Jared knew he understood. “It’s not a no. I want you to know that.”

Jared let out a long, shaky breath. He hated feeling so weak and helpless. This was so not who he was. Jared knew he was lucky to have someone like Jensen by his side, someone to hold him up when he was falling down.

Another cramp racked his insides and he flinched. His body was telling him it was done waiting. It wanted its alpha.

“I think… Jen, it’s time.”

Jensen remained where he was for a moment longer, eyes on Jared. His darkened gaze swept over Jared’s flushed and naked torso. The alpha was scenting Jared’s readiness. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.” His voice had dropped an octave or two and was filled with heat.


	10. Chapter 10

 

 _April 7, 2009_ _| Day 4 | 5:58pm_

 

Things moved quickly once Jared said the word—he was slipping away again, too fast, his fever raging; Jensen wasted no time in getting them stripped of their underwear.

“Jay, baby, stay with me here.”

Jared barely noted the worried tones in Jensen’s voice; the comfortable fog in his head was calling to him. He was laid out like a ragdoll on his back on the woolen blanket, too weak to even consider getting up on all fours. Firm hands slipped up his thighs sliding around to grasp at the hollows of his hips. Jensen leaned down and sprinkled soft kisses along Jared's jawline until he reached his mouth. Jared gave an involuntary gasp when he felt Jensen’s cock slide alongside his own.

Jensen took advantage of the opening and pressed forward, claiming Jared's mouth as if he were giving Jared a teasing taste of what was to soon follow. His fingers slipped into Jared’s messy hair and he gripped it almost painfully tight. Jared’s omega swooned at the domineering touch of its alpha and Jensen swallowed the needy cry that fell from his lips. The hurt inside Jared shifted over to something more, but less painful now that his alpha was so near.

He ran his hands up Jensen’s sides and rocked into the alpha’s rolling thrusts. His fingers mapped out the ridges and dips of Jensen’s ribs until he wrapped his arms around Jensen’s lower back and then gripped the firm, shifting muscles of his ass.

“Jensen,” he breathed into their kiss. “Oh, god. I need…” Jared was so fucking wet for Jensen right now; he knew the alpha could smell the sweet scent of slick dripping from his hole.

“I gotcha, baby. Just tell me what you need.” Jensen seized Jared’s lower lip between his teeth before soothing it with his tongue and then surging back into Jared’s mouth again searching for more. Jared gave him every last little bit he had. The kiss was near-on desperate.

Jared broke away panting heavily. “I… Oh, fuck… I don’t know. Never…,” he moaned when Jensen shifted and his thick cock slid down, nudging past his balls and slipping into the crevice between Jared’s ass cheeks, “…never done this before,” he admitted.

Jensen stopped. He pulled away and stared down at Jared, emerald eyes gleaming darkly. He didn’t say anything at first. He just continued to look at Jared, eyes scanning over Jared’s features. His lips were red and kiss-swollen; he’d never looked so perfect.

“You’ve never been knotted?”

Jared shook his head no. “Never been with anyone but betas. You’re the first.” Betas were easiest to hide his nature from; not every coupling had to end with a knot.

Jensen growled, the sound not fearsome, but possessive to Jared’s ears. And then Jensen’s tongue was tangling hungrily with Jared’s again. He only pulled away to whisper, “Mine. My omega.” He began pressing open-mouthed kisses to Jared’s neck and collarbone. “My perfect omega. I should’ve known you’d save yourself for me.”

Jensen moved down Jared’s body, wet lips sliding over smooth flesh. Sharp teeth grazed and nipped at heated skin, but never claimed. He slipped a hand down between Jared’s legs, moving past his dick and his sac, straight down to his wet and needy hole.

Jared’s whole body bowed off the ground and he shouted out when Jensen slipped the first finger in without warning. Jensen sat up and watched as he slowly and torturously slipped the digit in and out of Jared.

“So beautiful, the way you just open right up for me. Can’t wait to feel you around me.”

Jared keened as Jensen slid a second finger in beside the first and began to scissor them. He closed his eyes and relaxed into the sensation as his body readily accepted its alpha’s intimate touch. A soft squelching noise could be heard; Jared was so goddamn wet for his alpha—if it was any other time, Jared would have been embarrassed, but, oh god, it felt amazing.

Jensen moved further down until he was nestled between Jared’s long legs and then, one by one, propped them up on his shoulders putting Jared on full display. Jared watched in the dim light of the tent as Jensen leaned forward and licked up the length of his taint teasing at Jared’s already tightening balls.

“Oh, fuck!” Jared’s body strained up against the arm Jensen had thrown across his hips to hold him in place. “Jensen!”

Jensen began to lap along Jared’s glistening rim and then dipped his tongue inside between his fingers. At the same time, one of his fingers slipped over Jared’s prostate and Jared moaned loudly. He reached down and grasped his cock, already wet and slippery with pre-cum, and began to stroke it, so close to orgasm already… and Jensen had barely gotten started.

Jensen sat back up between Jared’s spread legs and he watched, pink tongue darting out across his shiny, slick-wet lips, as Jared jacked himself. “That’s it, Jay, wanna see you come. Gonna get all relaxed for me so you can take my knot.” Jensen’s fingers were still slip-sliding in and out of Jared, only a fraction of what Jared needed to fill him.

There was a mild burning sensation when the alpha snugged a third finger in beside the first two. Another press of fingers against Jared’s prostate and, “Oh, fuck, Jensen!” Jared curled in on himself, his orgasm sending tendrils of lightning ricocheting up and down his spine; thick, white stripes of cum spurted up over his stomach coating his chest and belly.

Jensen leaned down, tongue tracing meandering paths through the hot cum. “So good, Jay,” he murmured into Jared’s goose-prickled flesh. “Want you so bad. Aching for you.” He lapped at Jared until every last drop of Jared’s release was gone.

Jensen slipped his fingers from Jared’s hole as he leaned up and pressed a wet and dirty kiss to Jared’s mouth. His tongue delved deeply and Jared groaned when the bitter taste of himself burst across his taste buds.

Jensen broke away from the kiss all too soon and reached down to run his fingers through the slick at Jared’s hole, coating them in its wetness. Jared watched as Jensen used the natural lubrication to prep himself, sliding his hand up and down his hard and ready shaft. Jensen’s eyes flashed amber and he growled low, the rumble coming from deep within his chest. Jared could see the alpha’s canines lengthening and felt more slick seeping from his entrance. It was the biggest fucking turn-on Jared had ever seen: an alpha ready to take its omega.

When Jensen moved to get into position, Jared tensed and bit into his bottom lip. He didn’t know what to expect, how this would feel: sex with an alpha. Jensen’s cock was a hell of a lot bigger and wider than three fingers—and that didn’t include his knot.

Jensen seemed to sense Jared’s anxiety because, in that moment, all seriousness slipped away from his features only to be replaced with a soft, familiar smile, a smile Jared knew too well. “Relax, Jay. It’s just me. I’ll take care of you.” Jared felt the head of Jensen’s cock slide through the wetness below and whimpered in need. “Eyes on me. And breathe. You gotta breathe.”

Jared relaxed, taking deep, measured breaths like he had been told, and kept his eyes on Jensen’s. This is what his omega wanted, what _he_ had wanted for so long. Maybe Jensen was right, he and his omega were one and the same. There wasn’t time to ponder over it as Jensen pushed, the head of his cock breaking through the first ring of resistance and Jared cried out. His fingers bit into Jensen’s biceps and he held on.

Jensen gave Jared a chance to adjust, but it wasn't long before he started pushing further in, not stopping until he was fully seated.

Jared threw his head back—he was sure his fingers would leave bruises on Jensen’s arms such was the grip he had on them—the oh-so-good burn replacing every ache in his body, that greedy emptiness being filled by Jensen’s cock.

“That’s it, baby. Take it all in like a good omega. _Fuck._ So damn tight,” Jensen hissed between deep, straining breaths.

The tent was filled with only the sound of their breathing. Jared was still clutching at Jensen’s arms, not wanting to let go. He opened his eyes and looked up only to find Jensen watching him intently.

“Y’okay?”

Jared nodded slowly. “Yeah. I think…” He shifted slightly, clenching and unclenching the muscles of his ass around Jensen’s girth, testing the proverbial waters. “Feels… Oh, god, so full, Jen. I never… I need you to move, please—” His words were cut off when Jensen pulled out and then slammed back in. “Shit! Yeah. Like that. More,” he begged.

Jensen’s eyes darkened further, obsidian swallowing green. He pistoned his hips: out, in, out, in… soft retreats, only to return with powerful thrusts that made Jared cry out in ecstasy.

“Jen… Jensen… Oh, fuck.” Jared could only hold on, legs wrapped tightly around Jensen’s waist, as his alpha took what was his. A sudden moment of crystal clear lucidity washed over Jared then; it was like a goddamn epiphany. He was Jensen’s—and Jensen was his, _his alpha_. “Mark me.” The words were out of his mouth before he could give them any thought. “Make me yours, Jen.”

The alpha stilled, hands pressed to the ground on either side of Jared’s head, holding himself up.

“Jay?” His expression was filled with both shock and uncertainty.

“You were right. I am my omega. What it wants, I want. And I want you.” Jared said the words with conviction, no hesitation at all.

Jensen didn’t say anything for a while, even as he was still buried, balls-deep, inside Jared. Jared started to wonder if the alpha didn’t want to take that leap with him, to do what he was asking for. Maybe he’d misread Jensen. But then Jensen spoke…

“That’s…,” Jensen shifted his weight and Jared nearly swooned as his alpha’s cock nudged at his prostate again, “that’s a serious thing, Jared. You know what’ll happen to us if we do that, being Naturals. There’re no take-backs once it’s done. Are you sure?”

Jensen was talking about the Bond that only Natural Mates could achieve. He was right about the permanency. Once established, the connection couldn’t be broken; it was for life. A Mating Cuff was child’s play when compared to a Claiming Bite.

And yes, that’s exactly what Jared wanted.

“I’ve always known it was you. Was just scared, is all. But I know what I want. I want you to be my alpha… in every way.”

Another growl emanated from Jensen and Jared braced himself when he saw a flash of teeth. Jensen started to move again; he gave a few more breath-stealing punches of his hips and Jared felt the swell of Jensen’s growing knot catching on his rim.

“I love you,” Jared whispered.

It seemed that that was all Jensen needed. The alpha slammed home with a roar, knot slipping past any resistance Jared’s body might have had left, tying them together. Jared yelled out, overwhelmed by too many sensations all at once as sharp teeth sank into flesh and he climaxed for a second time that evening.

~*~

 _April 7, 2009_ _| Day 4 | 7:58pm_

 

Jared was quiet as he watched Jensen sleep. Once they’d knotted, the alpha had carefully maneuvered them so that he was lying on his back and Jared was blanketing his chest. Locked together as they were, neither had much leeway and had no choice but to get cozy. Missionary position, Jared found out, wasn’t exactly the best position to tie in—and they would probably be tied together for at least another half hour according to Jensen.

In all honesty, Jared didn’t care how long they were stuck together. He was just happy his heat seemed to be satisfied for the time being. His craving for a knot would inevitably be coming back soon, probably in a few short hours, but he would take the reprieve where he could get it.

But Jared was restless.

Aside from internally freaking out (in a good way, mind you) about the fact that he’d _just had sex with Jensen,_ Jared was excited and anxious about the Bond. So far, he didn’t feel any different, didn’t _feel_ Jensen any more than he had before. _Did they somehow do it wrong?_ He touched the wound on his neck. _No. Jensen had done that job well enough. Huh._ Maybe he was just being impatient. Maybe the Bond just needed time to grow between an alpha and its omega. Jared had never met a Natural pair, the rarity that they were; he had nothing to go by.

The other big thing he was internally freaking out about (this one not so much in a good way) was: what was the probability of him getting pregnant from all this? Every couple minutes, Jared could feel Jensen’s cock pulse deep within him filling him with the alpha’s release. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know each burst of cum had the potential to impregnate him. Jesus, he could already be pregnant. _Yeah, so not going there right now._ Jared shut the door on that thought fast.

He shifted, feeling Jensen’s arms automatically tighten around him, and looked over at the alpha again; long, dark lashes fanned out from his closed eyelids. _How could he be sleeping at a time like this?_ Jared rocked his hips, only slightly, and snickered when Jensen groaned.

Jensen slid his hands down from where he’d been sleepily caressing the skin of Jared’s back and gripped Jared’s hips. He blinked his eyes open. “Dude, you ever wanna get away from me, you better stop doin’ that.”

“What if I don’t want to get away?” Jared teased. His breath hitched when Jensen dug his fingers in deeper, holding him in place, and thrust up into him. “ _Shit_.”

Jensen grinned. “You sure wanna play that game? ‘Cause we can stay tied for hours, Jay.”

Jared smiled. “Mmm… That sounds tempting,” he said before he leaned in and kissed the side of Jensen’s jaw, the days’ old stubble rasping against his lips. Jensen turned his head and Jared licked his way into the alpha’s mouth. Jensen traced his fingers gently over the Claiming Mark on Jared’s neck as they kissed and Jared moaned.

Jared’s stomach growled then.

Jensen pulled away and he held onto Jared as he cracked a smile which quickly turned into a full body laugh.

“I think I might have some other things to take care of for my omega before we start bumpin’ uglies again, like feeding him.”

Jared pursed his lips at the comment. Pulling out of Jensen’s hold, he pushed up onto his hands, one planted on each side of Jensen’s head. “Don’t.”

Jensen frowned. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t treat me like that, like I can’t do things for myself.”

Jensen reached up and took hold of Jared’s face firmly between his hands. “Jay?”

“What?”

Jared couldn't help but give Jensen an irritated glare when he realized he couldn't get up; he was stuck firmly on Jensen's knot—he knew that because he tried to pull away, a move which caused the alpha to growl and drop his hands back down to Jared’s hips to hold him still.

“First,” Jensen said with a grimace, “don’t do that. And second, I’ve already told you I’ve known about you for a long time. Have you ever noticed me treating you any different than anyone else?”

Jared didn’t need to think about it. He shook his head no.

“Then what would make you think I’d do that now? You’re still _Jared_ , my best friend. Nothing’s changed.” He drew lazy circles on Jared’s sides with his thumbs, soothing him. “Okay, well maybe that’s not completely true. A lot _has_ changed,” his eyes darted briefly to the bite mark on the side of Jared’s neck, “but the best friend part hasn’t. I’ll still do things like kick your ass at Madden and steal your candy when you’re not looking,” he said with a grin. “And I don’t expect you to treat me any different… except for maybe giving me a kiss every now and then. And maybe,” Jensen rocked his hips up causing Jared to close his eyes and dig his fingers into the blanket, “a little some of this… at least once or twice a week, maybe more.”

“‘M sorry, Jen. God, I know all that. It’s just—”

Jensen put a finger to Jared’s lips. “You don’t have to explain. I understand. I’ve watched you, seen more than you know. I get it. I’ll admit, sometimes I’ve wondered why you never felt you were able to tell me, but I can respect your decisions. It’s okay.”

Jared lay back down on Jensen’s chest. He rested his head on his alpha’s shoulder. “I wanted to. I knew, of all people, I could trust you. I tried—more times than I can count—but it just never seemed like the right time. Before I knew it, months… and then years… had passed and, instead of worrying about how you’d react to finding out I was omega, I started to worry about you thinking I didn’t trust you, that you’d feel betrayed somehow… and that you’d hate me for keeping something so big from you. It hurt so much not to be able to tell you.” His voice cracked with that last sentence and a tear slipped down Jared’s cheek; it fell onto Jensen’s sun-kissed skin.

Strong arms tightened around Jared and a kiss was placed to the crown of his head. “I could never hate you, Jared. Never.”

Jared nodded silently. The funny thing was, he knew that without Jensen having to tell him, just like he could never hate Jensen. Sure, they’d had some knock-down, drag-out fights, but they had always made up afterward, usually with a hug.

“So, this whole trip… The Mating Cuff… You were going to tell me that you knew,” Jared led, curious for more information.

Jensen slid a hand up to the nape of Jared’s neck, fingers threading into his hair as he held him close. “Yeah. I decided I had to take my chances. I couldn’t stand watching you suffer anymore. It was hurting me almost as much as it was hurting you.”

“I’m glad,” Jared looked at Jensen, meeting his eyes, “glad that you did this… even if it didn’t go the way you planned.”

“Anything to keep it exciting, right?” Jensen smiled at him.

Jared grinned back. “If that’s what you wanna call it, yeah.” He closed his eyes and let himself drift in the comfort of his alpha’s embrace.

~*~

 _April 8, 2009_ _| Day 5 | 10:47am_

 

“Oh, fuck! Right there, Jensen. Yes!” Jared arched his back as his alpha’s cock nailed his prostate again and then dragged ever so slowly out of him, only to do the same all over again. Jensen was way too good at this.

Jared was on his hands and knees and Jensen was pounding into his ass as only an alpha could. They’d been up half the night fucking; the other half of the time they’d spent tied together. Every time Jared had started showing signs of succumbing to his heat, Jensen had been right there for him. They were somewhere around their fifth or sixth round (or was it the seventh?) by this point. Each time, Jared found himself craving more of the alpha as any barriers he’d built up over the years began to crumble.

Jared had to dig his fingers into the ground to keep from sliding across the tent floor when Jensen grabbed him by the hips, fingers slipping through the slick of sweat, and slammed into him like a freight train. Jensen had promised to take care of Jared and he was doing a damn fine job of it as far as Jared was concerned.

Jared was completely off guard when his orgasm suddenly tore through him, temporarily sending his brain offline; higher brain function was no longer possible. One… two… three… four more thrusts later and he shouted again when Jensen’s knot punched through his rim.

“Shit, Jay. So good,” Jensen murmured when he collapsed breathlessly onto Jared’s back.

~*~

 _April 8, 2009_ _| Day 5 | 1:02pm_

 

“Looks like your neck is healing up all right,” Jensen commented as they walked, retracing Jared’s steps from the other day. Neither man had forgotten how close they were to the river.

Jared reached up and fingered the mark Jensen had given him; the motion had become habit since he’d gotten it. It would soon scar over and be his to wear forever as a sign of their devotion to one another. “Yeah. Just tingles a little now.”

As he was answering Jensen’s question, Jared thought he saw something move in his peripheral vision. He slowed his pace and scanned the thick foliage.

“What?” Jensen came to a halt beside him and looked off in the direction Jared was eyeing.

“Nothing. Just thought I saw something.”

“If you did, it’s about damn time. What’ve we seen out here, a monkey and a few birds? Oh, and don’t forget the goddamn mosquitoes,” he complained as he swatted at another one.

Jensen looked back at Jared. “Where are the big guys, like the jags and the giant centipedes? This place is supposed to be full of that shit.” It was said in jest, but still, Jensen moved closer to Jared—an alpha’s instinctive need to protect its omega, Jared supposed.

“Watch out. You might just get what you wish for. Look.” Jared gestured with his chin in the direction he’d been looking. The predatory eyes of a jaguar were staring at them.

“Oh… shit,” Jensen whispered in awe.

The jaguar watched them silently as they stared back. Eventually, it must have grown bored with them because it soon turned and leapt off into the trees.

“Must’ve figured you would give it indigestion,” Jensen commented dryly.

“Fuck you," Jared replied ever so affectionately.

“Already did… several times.” Jensen threw Jared a playful wink before he spun back around, machete in hand, and hacked away at a vine hanging across their path.

Jared had no comeback for that. He only grinned at Jensen’s back.

They made it another dozen steps before Jensen stopped and turned around to face Jared again.

“What?”

“You kissed me in the hotel…” Jensen left the statement open-ended.

Jared swallowed. “Yeah.”

“Why?”

Jared shrugged. "I don't know. It just sort of happened.”

“That's all? Because, you know, I've seen you checking me out,” Jensen said smugly.

Jared rolled his eyes. “Fine. You really wanna know? Because… because I wanted it. That’s all. And I never thought I’d ever get the chance otherwise.”

Jensen looked all too pleased as he turned on his heel. He whistled as he walked. Jared picked some kind of nut up off the ground and threw it at the alpha hitting him square in the back of the head.

“Son of a—” Jensen whipped around as he rubbed at the back of his head. “What was that for?”

“Your Dean was coming out.” Jared stuck his tongue out at the alpha who only flipped him off. Jared chuckled. That was exactly the reaction he figured he’d get.

Five minutes later, the trees parted in front of them and Jared and Jensen stopped to look out at the dark waters swirling below. About a half mile to the northeast, the river turned and disappeared from sight. Downriver, it ran into the horizon. Not a boat was in sight in either direction.

“I don’t think either of us would survive a swan dive into it,” Jensen deadpanned. He looked over at Jared. “You have any ideas?”

Jared had cautiously moved up to the edge to look over it. There was no way to climb down as the river had undercut the cliff they were standing on. He backed up a step remembering how close he’d come to going over the last time he’d been here. He looked in both directions, but saw no way down. “I think we’re just going to have to follow it from up here for a while.”

“Yeah,” Jensen agreed. “So, which way?”

Again, Jared looked right, then left. He shrugged. “Flip a coin?”

Jensen arched an eyebrow; he didn’t bother replying.

“Yeah, I don’t have one either. Just give me a second to think.”

Jared mentally pictured the maps of Peru he’d browsed while on his phone at the airport in Lima, thankful for his eidetic memory and being able to visualize what he’d only briefly looked at. He tried to figure out about how far they were upriver from Iquitos. They’d passed two towns that he knew of while on the boat—they couldn’t have been going more than ten to fifteen knots per hour on the water the first day out—and then they’d driven off into the jungle for close to two hours the next day, but the road had been rough-going and anything but straight. Everything he was coming up with was rough estimates, but it was better than blindly heading off into the jungle again.

“Upriver.” He pointed to the northeast. “I remember a few of the towns on the map. I think we’re better off going that way than backtracking to the ones we passed on the boat.”

“Okay.” Jensen nodded, trusting Jared to make the best call. “So, we’ve got a game plan. I’m guessin’ your heat will wrap up in the next couple days. When it does, we’ll pack up our gear and get ourselves outta here.”

For the first time in days, home didn’t seem so far away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit for the J2 pic of them finally "getting together" goes to vongue.deviantart.com.


	11. Chapter 11

 

 _April 8, 2009_ _| Day 5 | 1:27pm_

 

Jared tucked a piece of salty jerky into his mouth and leaned back against one of the many trees surrounding their tent. His heat was ramping up again and they both knew it. Every now and then, Jared would catch Jensen eyeing him. Being the alpha he was, Jensen was probably scenting the increase in Jared’s pheromones as his heat ran its course. Jared could already feel the slide of slick on his skin. It wouldn’t be much longer before they were naked and fucking again.

They were quiet, each lost in their private thoughts. Both men knew they were left to their own devices until the time that they missed their flight back to LA and people started to miss them, i.e. Gen and Danneel. It was also an unspoken fact that if they didn’t find help soon, they were going to start running out of food; they were already rationing as much as they could. It didn’t help matters that Jared’s heat probably still had several more days to go.

Jensen smacked at a mosquito and growled, his alpha hormones more than likely skyrocketing with Jared in such close proximity and causing him to be on edge and easily agitated. Jared smiled to himself though. Much to his amusement, the blood-sucking insects seemed to take a liking to Jensen more than him.

Jared rubbed at his neck; the quickly healing wound was starting to itch. “Have you felt anything yet?” he asked. He’d been meaning to ask Jensen about the Bond since last night, but they’d been too busy doing  _other_ things all night and most of the morning and then checking out the river for a good portion of this afternoon.

When Jensen gave him a rather clueless look, he elaborated. “The Bond. Anything?”

Jensen looked at Jared, his expression one of deep concentration, as if he was trying to reach deep down and  _feel_ Jared—and then he shook his head no. “Nothing more than the usual.”

“I’ve been thinking about it. You think we could be wrong, that there’s a chance we’re not Natural Mates? I mean, I kinda fucked up my body by doing what I did. Maybe my heat is just… for a lack of a better word… fucked up, too.”

Jensen shifted in his seat and scratched at his lightly-bearded jaw. “You know what I think? I think you’re over-thinking with that big brain of yours. Give it some time, Jay; it’s been less than a day. It’s a big change going right down to—what do they say?—the very essence of our being. Something like that? I’m pretty sure it doesn’t just happen overnight.”

Jared chewed on the inside of his cheek. What Jensen said made sense. He hadn’t thought to think about it from that angle—but then, who could blame him? He was an omega in heat and half his waking hours were spent begging for his alpha’s knot; he was lucky he even had two brain cells left to rub together. “Yeah. You’re probably right.”

“Would it make a difference?”

Jared’s eyes snapped back to Jensen. “What?”

“Natural Mates. Would it make a difference if we weren’t?”

_What the hell?_

“Jesus fuck, Jensen. I can’t believe you just asked me that. Of course it wouldn’t make a difference! D’you even know how long I’ve wanted you, or how hard it was to look the other way when you and Danni were together? All those times you came home after spending the weekend in LA  _smelling_ like beta… It nearly killed me. I thought you two were  _it._ ”

From their short spat yesterday, Jared knew Jensen had known about him and Gen; Jared hadn’t had that advantage.

Jared’s heat picked that exact moment to shoot a tendril of lust through him. Jensen had looked like he was going to respond to Jared’s rant, but then his nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed. Jared could hear the low, possessive growl coming from his mate. Their argument was dropped almost as quickly as it had started as he watched Jensen stand up and walk toward him, intent clear in his posture and in his eyes.

“Jensen…” The name came out on an exhale as Jared tried to breathe through his sudden need.

“Think we can both chalk this up to hormones talking and forget this conversation ever happened?” Jensen asked as he closed in and pressed himself against Jared, his cock already half hard in his pants; Jared could feel the length of it against his own awakening dick.

Jensen slid his arms around Jared’s waist and pushed the tips of his fingers under the waistband of Jared’s shorts teasing at the swell of his ass.

A tremor ran through Jared at his alpha’s touch. He nodded, closing his eyes and letting his body go lax. “Yeah. Just…,” he felt slick starting to seep from his hole, “just don’t ever doubt me like that again.”

“I promise, Jay,” Jensen whispered into Jared’s ear as he leaned forward and rasped his teeth against the sensitive skin just below it. “Never again. You have my word.”

When Jensen tongued over the Claiming Mark, Jared moaned. “Fuck me, Jensen. Need you.”

~*~

 _April 9, 2009_ _| Day 6 | 3:31pm_

 

Jared was pressed, chest first, up against the smooth bark of a large kapok tree, his shorts pulled down to his ankles. Jensen was on his knees behind him giving him the best rim job he’d ever had. Jared moaned and pushed back into Jensen, searching for more. No matter how good it felt, though, his body (and Jared) was still craving the alpha’s knot.

“Jensen…,” he sighed, blunt nails scraping into the bark as he held on. A finger slid in beside Jensen’s tongue and Jared clenched greedily against the intrusion. “Need you, Jen. C’mon. I’m ready.”

Jared was sopping wet, slick drenching his inner thighs. They’d just fucked not more than three hours ago, but his heat was relentless today.

Jensen pulled away and Jared heard the alpha unzipping his pants. He glanced over his shoulder and licked his lips at the sight of Jensen’s alpha cock when it was pulled out; it curved up, long and thick, from a dark nest of wiry curls and stood proud and hard against Jensen’s bare stomach. A thrill ran through Jared at the sight of it, knowing the pleasure it could give him.

“Like what you see?” Jensen asked when he saw Jared watching him.

Jared nodded. “Give it to me, Alpha.” He kicked his shorts off and tilted his ass out, spreading his legs wide. “Now,” he demanded. “Don’t wanna wait anymore.”

“You’re so fucking hot when you get all controlling, babe. Don’t worry. That tight little ass of yours won’t be begging for long.”

~*~

 _April 10, 2009_ _| Day 7 | 4:11am_

 

Jared was startled awake to the sound of rain falling on their tent. Jensen was still snugged up against his back, playing the big spoon. They had had another round of mind-blowing sex just before calling it a night. Jared had fallen asleep with Jensen still filling him.

That was hours ago. Jared should be craving his alpha’s knot like a starving dog—but he wasn’t. The need was still there, but nothing like it had been.

Jensen shifted behind him. “What’s wrong, Jay? You need it again?” His voice was gruff with sleep.

Jared rolled over so he could face Jensen. He traced Jensen’s right nipple in the dark with a finger causing it to pebble up. “No. I’m good.”

“Like good, good or just good?”

Jared smiled sleepily. He could wake up like this every day for the rest of his life and he’d be happy. “Door number two, I think.”

“Okay.” Jensen’s hand came up to rest on the side of Jared’s face; he leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss to his lips. “Just let me know when things start kicking in,” he said as he pulled away.

“Thank you, Jen.”

“For what?”

“For understanding, getting me through this…”

“Nothing to thank me for. As a matter of fact, I should be the one thanking you for all the awesome sex we’ve had over the last few days.”

Jared couldn’t see it, but he knew Jensen was smirking; more than likely, he was waggling his eyebrows, too. He couldn’t help but laugh as he settled back down next to his mate and let his eyes close.

The gentle pitter-patter of rain on the roof slowly lulled them to sleep soon after.

~*~

 _April 10, 2009_ _| Day 7 | 11:22am_

 

Jensen was outside making a valiant attempt at getting a fire started. With the rain having continued into late morning, he wasn’t having much luck. Jared knew that because he could hear the mumbled cursing outside the tent. Jared, on the other hand, was attempting to pass the time by reading an old paperback he’d brought with him.

He snickered when he heard Jensen yell, “Son of a bitch!” There was so much of Dean in Jensen (and Jensen in Dean).

Jared folded the page he was on over and set his book down before rolling over to grab his shoes. He couldn’t leave Jensen out there like he was. Maybe he could go out and talk the stubborn alpha into forgetting about the fire for now. It wasn't like they really needed it this early in the day.

As he started to tug one boot on, Jared caught sight of Jensen’s man purse by the wall of the tent. He thought about the Mating Cuff Jensen had presented him with the other night. He looked between the closed flap of the tent to where he knew Jensen was only a couple dozen feet away and then back at the bag. Jared knew Jensen wouldn’t mind if he took it out… and just looked at it again. After all, they were mates now.

Jared reached out and snagged the strap to the bag. He pulled it toward him and carefully opened the buckles. Jensen had said he’d hidden the cuff in the lining of the bag so Jared felt around inside for a broken seam. When he found it, he wiggled two fingers through the cut threads and fished around until he felt what he was searching for.

He set the satchel aside once he retrieved the cuff and studied it. The alpha and omega engravings were exquisitely done as was the intricate twist of the metal. Again, he thought of the work that had to have gone into it and how Jensen had gone into this trip having planned all this out. (Well, not  _everything_ , he reminded himself.)

Jared thought over all the wasted years, years they could have had this… them. He subconsciously reached up to run his fingers over the now fully healed scar on his neck, a physical mark of their connection, but also so much more.

“You can put it on, Jay. It’s yours.”

Jared jumped, pulled out of his thoughts. He turned to see Jensen crouched down behind him.  _How…?_

Jensen reached over and took the cuff from Jared’s fingers. He looked Jared in the eye as if waiting for a confirmation. Jared simply nodded giving Jensen the permission he was seeking.

They both looked down as Jensen took Jared’s left hand in his and gently worked the cuff onto his wrist.

“My body, my heart, my soul…,” Jensen began, taking Jared’s hands into his own.

Jared instantly lifted his eyes from where their fingers were now laced together; his heart began to hammer in his chest.  _Jensen was saying the vows, THE vows._ Jared shouldn’t be surprised. When Jensen did something, he did it all the way—and apparently, he was a closet romantic as well.

The deep sea-green of Jensen’s gaze held Jared fast. Jensen was watching him, waiting for him. Jared wet his lips and repeated the words that had been passed down for generations upon generations between alphas and their omegas, words that were so simple, yet held so much meaning.

Jared blinked as he felt the tears of happiness welling up in his eyes and he spoke, his voice much steadier than he felt. “My body, my heart, my soul…”

“What is mine and will be, I now give to you, my omega.”

“What is mine and will be, I now give to you, my alpha.”

Jensen smiled as they completed the vows. He reached out and wiped a stray tear from Jared’s cheek with his thumb before leaning in and pressing a light kiss to Jared’s lips. Then he sat back on his haunches; a slight blush to his cheeks accompanied what looked like an embarrassed smile.

“You don’t have to tell me that was cheesy. I already know.”

Jared shook his head no. “No. Not cheesy. Not even close, Jen.” He’d wanted this for so long… and now he finally had it. It seemed so surreal, like a dream. “Do you think…” Jared felt his own cheeks warm and he trailed off in his request.

“What, Jay? Anything.” Jensen continued to watch Jared with soft eyes.

“I want you to make love to me.”

Jensen scented the air and Jared could see his alpha come to the same realization Jared had not long after he’d woken up this morning.

“Your heat’s over,” Jensen stated what Jared already knew.

“Yeah. Sometime between last night and this morning.”

Jensen’s eyes flickered down to Jared’s abdomen. Jared knew all too well what was going through his mate’s head.

Jared’s heat had run short, by a day or two if you were to compare it to the standard five to seven days. There was the slightest of chances he was currently carrying. (The idea of it still made Jared’s stomach somersault.) If he was, his scent would start to change within the next day or so and Jensen, being his alpha, would more than likely pick up on it before Jared… which Jared thought was totally unfair.

“Don’t even think it,” Jared warned. (As if that could undo what might’ve already been done.)

Jensen grinned, green eyes lighting up and sparkling with mischief. “What? I think you’d be cute with a baby bump.” At the same time, he reached out to run his hand over the flat of Jared’s stomach.

“Dude, no! Just no. And keep your hands off—”

Jared was cut off as he went to push Jensen’s hand away because he suddenly found himself laid out on his back with the alpha looming over him, the mischief now gone from his eyes only to be replaced with lustful intent. Jared’s hands were trapped above his head, held fast in his alpha’s firm, one-handed grip. The whole thing was reminiscent of their morning in the hotel when Jensen had tackled him to the floor—but this time Jared could touch… and would be touched in all the ways he wanted to be touched.

Jensen’s dark eyes peered down at him over a smirk. “What, you don’t agree with me?”

“I—” _What were they talking about?_ Because— _fuck_ —Jared had not been expecting to be taken down so swiftly and easily. He squirmed in his alpha’s tight hold, but he didn’t make much of an effort to get away; the omega half of him quite thoroughly enjoyed the idea that its alpha could overpower him like he’d just done. As a matter of fact, Jared might have just realized he had a new kink.

Jensen leaned down and let his teeth graze over Jared’s collarbone where it peeked out of his shirt collar causing him to moan. “You do realize I can’t make love to you if I can’t touch you, right?” he said against Jared’s heated flesh.

“Jen…,” Jared said on a breath as his hands clenched into fists, nails biting into the palms of his hands. He could already feel himself getting wet for his alpha. “Fuck,” he hissed when Jensen shifted above him, bringing the hard line of his cock into contact with Jared’s, and then gave a small, teasing thrust.

“You sure you don’t wanna change your mind?” Jensen asked as he rolled his hips again. He mouthed up along Jared’s neck and over the freshly healed scar of his Claiming Mark, teeth nipping and tongue soothing, until he reached Jared’s ear. “’Cause this,” he palmed over Jared’s burgeoning erection with his free hand and squeezed, “is telling me you might be thinkin’ different,” he whispered, hot breath tickling Jared’s skin.

“Oh, god. Yeah, maybe.” Jared groaned; he rocked his hips up in search of more. He might no longer be in heat, but he most definitely _wanted_.

Jared whined when Jensen’s hand suddenly disappeared from his aching dick, but then Jensen released Jared’s wrists and sat back up on his haunches, the fingers of his left hand drifting down the sensitive undersides of Jared’s right arm, down his side, setting his skin alight with goosebumps, until they reached the hem of his shirt. He slid the thin material of Jared’s shirt up and over his head and tossed it off into the corner of the tent before peeling off his own and adding it to the pile. And then Jensen was back, lying down over Jared, covering him with his lean-muscled body.

“You don’t know what seeing you like this does to me,” Jensen said as he licked a wet stripe up Jared’s sternum. He veered off and sucked Jared’s left nipple into his mouth and teased it until it came to a peak. Jared writhed under the attention and cried out when Jensen bit down just enough to push the line of pain/pleasure. “Love you so much, Jay,” Jensen whispered. “And if you let me, I’m gonna show you just how much.”

Jensen’s thigh was slotted in between Jared’s legs and Jared ground up against it; he could feel the length of Jensen’s hard cock riding up against his own thigh. “Jen, please… Want you so much,” Jared begged as the alpha slowly moved on to Jared’s right nipple.

Jared reached down and threaded his fingers through Jensen’s short hair. He gripped it tight and pulled Jensen up for a kiss. Jensen immediately opened for him and their tongues slid together, tangled and danced; the alpha tasted like he smelled, like crisp autumn leaves, cinnamon, and a splash of citrus. Jared traced over Jensen’s perfect teeth, took his time exploring the hot cavern of his alpha’s mouth. He jumped when he suddenly felt Jensen’s hand wrap around his cock. Jensen had somehow managed to work the fastenings of Jared’s shorts open while Jared had been otherwise occupied.

Jared broke their kiss with an “Oh, _shit_.” He lifted his hips up and pushed into Jensen’s grip. “Please…” Jared gasped as Jensen jacked him, thumb tracing over the sensitive head of his dick spreading pre-cum over it. The scent of Jensen’s arousal was thick in the air and Jared didn’t know how his mate could hold back as he was. “C’mon,” he urged. “Want you naked, Jen.”

Jensen sat up on his knees, his hands sliding down the tops of Jared’s thighs, thumbs caressing along the thick muscles as if he was reluctant to break contact. “Be right back,” he said as he turned and quickly began to shuck out of his boots, socks, pants, and briefs, the clothes landing somewhere off in the far reaches of the tent.

Jared took the moment to kick off his own shorts and briefs so he'd be ready when Jensen came back. His clothes were barely off before Jensen was back, his alpha cock fully hard and ready and bobbing between his legs. Jared couldn’t help but lick his lips at the view in front of him.  _This was all his._

Jared felt mildly self-conscious as Jensen’s eyes roamed over his own naked body. No one had ever looked at him with that kind of hunger in their eyes before.

“God, Jay… Look at you,” Jensen said on a breath before pushing Jared’s legs back and shifting so he could lean down and nuzzle along the skin of Jared inner thighs, his week-old stubble prickling along the sensitive flesh.

Jared’s breath hitched when Jensen began to explore his body with his mouth once more, wet lips and tongue leaving hot trails of saliva behind. Jensen laved a line up the center of Jared’s ball sac and continued right up the length of Jared’s flushed and drooling cock; there was already a sticky pool of pre-cum at Jared’s navel. Jared’s eyes nearly rolled back into his head as he writhed under his alpha’s too-skilled ministrations.

“Jen…,” Jared gasped when Jensen sucked the head of his dick into his mouth and did something with his tongue that nearly had Jared coming far too soon. “Oh, fuck,” he moaned out when a finger slid into his hole, closely followed by a second.

Jared reached out and prodded at Jensen’s shoulders. “Jen, gotta slow down or… or I’m gonna come _right fuckin’ now_ ,” he said breathlessly.

Jensen stopped the bob of his head, Jared’s cock still held between those plush lips, and he looked up through long lashes with dark, penetrating eyes; his fingers were still slowly moving in and out of Jared’s ass, stretching him, prepping him. They slid over Jared’s prostate and Jared threw his head back as he arched his back, his cock slipping deeper into the wet cavern of Jensen’s mouth.

Jared’s fingers dug deeply into the flesh of Jensen’s shoulders and he cried out when Jensen began sucking in earnest again. One more pass of fingers over that sweet bundle of nerves and Jared’s world exploded.

“Jesus… _Fuck_ … Jensen!” he shouted, eyes clenching shut, heart pounding in his chest, and breaths coming out in short pants. When he opened his eyes again, Jensen was watching him from where he still lay between Jared’s legs.

“You’re so beautiful, Jay,” he said just loud enough for Jared to hear, the words almost reverent.

A current of emotions swept through Jared’s mind, then, so like his own, but not. He felt love and warmth and need and want… adoration, passion.  _Jensen._  He gasped in wonderment. He was feeling Jensen through the Bond.

“Jen…”

Jensen shifted and sat up, hands running up the backs of Jared’s thighs as he did, fingers caressing soft skin; his lips were turned up in a small smile. “You feel it, too?” Jensen’s hands continued to slide up and around Jared’s legs until they came to a rest on Jared’s hips. His thumbs drew circles on the taught skin, the feather-light touch causing Jared’s skin to pebble up beneath them and Jared shivered.

“I… Yeah.” Jared knew his own eyes were wide… but all he could think of was  _wow!_

Jensen chuckled and his smile grew wide and bright. Clearly, Jensen could  _feel_  Jared’s giddiness over the new connection they now had with one another. The alpha leaned down until his lips were barely brushing Jared’s. “Natural Mates, Jay,” he whispered before tangling his fingers in Jared’s unruly hair and pulling him up into another deep, heated kiss.

As their lips crashed together, Jensen rut up against Jared, his length a burning hot brand against Jared’s skin. Jared didn’t have to have Jensen in his head to pick up on his need. “C’mon. I’m ready,” he said as he rocked his hips up into Jensen. “Show me what you’ve got, Alpha,” Jared challenged knowing it would rile Jensen up. Jared was ready to go. Screw slow; they could do that when they got home.

Jensen’s grip in Jared’s hair tightened as a low growl rumbled through his chest and Jared gasped. Elongated canines grazed over his lower lip; the bitter tang of copper burst across his palate. Jensen pulled away, amber eyes flashing. And fuck, Jared didn’t think he’d ever get used to seeing his mate like that.

Jensen reached down. He teased at the tight furl of muscle at Jared’s hole before thrusting two fingers in, then three. Jared fucked down onto them, but he wanted more. He wanted Jensen. He wanted Jensen’s alpha cock and his knot.  _Now_.

Before Jared could utter a complaint, Jensen pulled his slick-wet fingers from Jared’s hole and fisted his own cock, slicking it up, the glistening and flushed head peeking out with every downstroke. Jared blinked and Jensen was lined up and sliding into him. His hole stretched wide around the intrusion and Jared grunted at the temporary burn. It was a long, smooth slide of heated flesh on heated flesh—and, oh god, Jared’s cock was already hardening again at the feeling of having his alpha inside him once more.

Once Jensen was fully seated, hands planted on either side of Jared’s head, he gave Jared a moment to adjust before pulling out… ever so slowly… and then he fed every inch back in just as painfully slow.

It was perfect.

Jensen leaned down and mouthed along his mark on Jared’s neck as he began to pick up the pace of his thrusts. Jared reached up and took Jensen’s head between his hands so he could steer him into another kiss. Jensen followed and nearly devoured Jared with the kiss that followed.

Jared wrapped his legs around Jensen’s waist allowing the alpha to thrust even deeper into him. The result was another low growl against Jared’s mouth. Jared slid his hands down the nape of Jensen’s neck, his fingers sliding through the sheen of sweat on Jensen’s skin. Muscles flexed and pulled as Jensen pounded into Jared, thrust after thrust. The noise of the jungle fell away as the tent was filled with sighs and moans and the sound of bare skin slapping against bare skin.

Their kisses became sloppy, more teeth and shared breath than lips and tongue, as their peaks neared. Jared cried out in protest when Jensen pulled out, but his complaint was quickly cut short when the alpha manhandled him up and over onto his hands and knees.  _And holy shit, not anyone could just do that to Jared._

Jensen slammed back into Jared without preamble. “Fuck!” the alpha shouted as he sank in to the hilt again.

Jared dug his fingers into the blanket and held on tight. Every thrust of Jensen’s hips punched a breath out of his lungs. He fell down to his elbows, the change in position causing his hips to cant up just that much more and _… oh, fuck!_  A tremor racked his body. “Oh, god… Yeah. Jus’ like that, Jen. Right there.” He was so goddamn close to the edge again.

Jensen held him in a bruisingly tight grip as his rhythm seemed to become ever more desperate and erratic. Jared could feel his alpha’s swelling knot beginning to tug at his rim with every in and out thrust of his hips. Jared reached down to take his cock in his hand. As soon as his fingers closed around it, he cried out and came, the muscles in his ass clamping down tightly around Jensen.

With a shout, Jensen slammed into Jared, his knot sinking home and,  _Jesus Christ_ , Jared was coming again. His muscles tensed until they were quivering; his toes curled and his fingers dug deeply into the floor. Every twitch of Jared's cock sent shockwaves through his wondrously spent and used body. It was so goddamn good that it was too much. The last thing Jared remembered was Jensen leaning over, his sweat-slick body blanketing him, a strong arm wrapping around his chest to keep him from collapsing, while murmuring sweet words of praise into his ear.

When Jared came to, they were on their sides, Jensen spooning him; they were still locked together. His alpha’s hand slid down from Jared’s where it had been resting over his heart and rubbed lazily at his stomach causing Jared’s muscles to twitch under the intimate touch; it brought their earlier conversation back to mind.

“Jen?”

“Mmmm…?” Jensen sleepily nuzzled the curve along where Jared’s neck and shoulder met.

Jared brought a hand up and entangled his fingers with Jensen’s. “Can you…? Do you think…?”

Jensen was quiet… for almost too long. And then his arms tightened around Jared. “No, Jay. You’re not.”

Jared let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. He only nodded in response.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some Spanish language spoken in this chapter. Please see the End Notes for translation.

 

 _April 11, 2009_ _| Day 8 | 6:47am_

 

Jared opened his eyes. Sharp shadows angled through the tent falling over their naked bodies. It was morning—but it was too early yet. He let his eyelids fall shut again and burrowed deeper into Jensen’s side. Jensen tightened his hold on Jared and then relaxed, his hand smoothing down Jared’s bare back until it came to a rest just at the curve of Jared’s backside.

They had spent most of yesterday cooped up in the tent (which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing since they’d spent most of that time exploring each other’s bodies). The rain that had left in the late morning had come back with a vengeance and had stayed for the remainder of the day. But whether it was rain or shine today, they were packing their things up and heading upriver; their food situation was growing too dire to waste another day away when they were perfectly capable of moving. They weren’t going to stop until they found help.

Birds called out overhead and distant monkeys chattered. Leaves rustled in whatever meager breeze the jungle felt it wanted to offer this morning.

A twig snapped.

The sudden noise had Jared tensing and opening his eyes again. Jensen must have heard it as well because bright green eyes opened in an instant and looked directly at Jared. Jared felt a flash of alarm which was quickly overrun by a sudden sense of protection coming from his mate.

And then there was a shuffling noise as if someone or _something_ was moving toward their tent.

Jensen sat up and grabbed their clothes. He tossed Jared’s to him and then quickly began to tug on his own. Jared was just pulling his shirt down over his head when someone called out, “¿Hola? ¿Hay alguien ahí?”

They froze and looked at each other.

The sound of footsteps grew closer. Jared was now pretty sure he could make out more than one person moving around outside. He reached out and grabbed Jensen by the arm when Jensen moved toward the tent flap. Jared shook his head no. Jensen couldn’t just go out there. What if…? His darkening thoughts were cut off a second later.

“Jensen Ackles. Jared Pada… Padalecki,” their names were called out with a thick Peruvian accent.

Jensen placed his hand over Jared’s. “If we don’t go out there, they’re just gonna come in here, Jay. We don’t really have a choice here. They could be a rescue party.”

“But…” Jared had no idea how anyone could know they were _missing_. They weren’t exactly late in going home yet. They’d only been out in the jungle for what, a week give or take a day? Jared may or may not have lost track considering he was lost in his heat more than half the time.

Jensen reached out and cupped his hand along Jared’s jaw. He leaned over and pressed a chaste, but lingering kiss to Jared’s lips. “I love you.” Jared also felt the sentiment in his bones thanks to the Bond.

Jared pulled away when he realized Jensen was still going to go. “Jen…"

“Stay here. If anything happens, you fight and you run,” Jensen ordered as he turned to open the tent. There was no Alpha in the command which surprised Jared, but he swallowed and stayed put as he watched Jensen disappear outside.

But Jared never did follow directions well.

~*~

Jared cautiously peeked out around the flap of the tent. He watched as Jensen walked toward their unexpected company, hands out to his sides in a non-threatening manner.

There were six alphas that Jared could see, all dressed in rugged camo gear with packs on their backs. Thanks to the bright morning sunlight, he could see the gleam of the rifles and machetes each man carried. Their guns were at rest, slung over their shoulders in a very non-threatening fashion; some had their machetes in hand, while others had them safely sheathed. As his eyes traveled over the men, he saw that not one of them was Vanco or Piero.

Jared slipped silently out of the tent and walked over to stand next to Jensen; Jared stood close enough to his mate that their shoulders brushed. Jensen looked up at him with a displeased frown, but there was nothing he could do now that Jared was there.

One of the men broke away from the others; he looked to be in his thirties and he had an air of authority about him. He held a several pages of weather-worn and rumpled paper out in front of him and looked from them to Jensen, then to Jared; Jensen moved so that he stood between Jared and the man.

“¿Ustedes son el señor Ackles, y el señor Padalecki?” he asked.

Jensen glanced at Jared and their eyes met. The alpha looked back at the guy. “Yeah, that’s us,” he replied with a nod. “Who’s askin’?”

The man glanced over his shoulder and gave a curt nod to the men behind him. Jared saw a couple of the alphas give each other congratulatory pats on the shoulders with wide grins. Some even pointed fingers at him and Jensen. Words were said, but Jared didn’t bother to try to translate; they were spoken too fast and too quietly.

“My name is Diego Catari,” the dark-haired man in front of them said when he turned his attention back to Jared and Jensen (thankfully switching from Spanish to English while he was at it). He held out the few sheets of tattered paper in his hand and Jensen took them. The man’s expression was as professional as one could get, but Jared could see the smile in his eyes. “We were sent by the embassy to find you.”

When Jared looked down at the documents Jensen was given, the first thing he noticed, aside from their craptastic passport photos, was the seal in the upper left-hand corner. _Holy shit!_ These men were sent from the _actual_ US Embassy. He let out something akin to a sob of relief. Before he knew it, he was swept up in Jensen’s arms, one big hand cupping the back of his head.

“We’re gonna be okay, Jay. We’re goin’ home.”

~*~

 _Wednesday, April 15, 2009_ _| Flight 6608 (LIM to LAX) | 9:02am_

 

The air from the vent above Jared’s head was cool and refreshing, a welcome change after the stifling heat and humidity of Peru and its jungle. He looked out the small, oblong window to his right and could see the lush expanse of greenery passing by below the clouds. Jensen’s right hand was clasped tightly over Jared’s left.

He shifted and rested his head on Jensen’s shoulder, breathing the alpha in, and closed his eyes. It had been a long few days and an even longer two weeks.

Señor Catari had explained to them what had happened while they'd made their two-day trip back down the Amazon to Iquitos; from there, they had taken a flight back to Lima and had been chauffeured directly to the US Embassy.

Vanco and Piero had apparently been under watch for suspicious activities for quite some time. What finally brought the axe down on them was when they had attempted to access Jensen’s Amex (that damn card he insisted on taking everywhere with him). Prior to their trip, Jensen had done what any responsible cardholder would do: he'd informed the credit card company of his travel plans, which only involved Lima and Iquitos. A series of cash advances in a distant city like Trujillo had sent up the red warning flags. It had taken less than twenty-four hours for the two men to be found and detained by the authorities, their hotel room searched.

Jared’s and Jensen’s belongings had been amongst the men’s bags and suitcases. The US Embassy had been contacted as soon as their passports and IDs had been found. Flight manifests had been checked; calls had been made back to the US. (Saying the Ackles and Padalecki families had been worried about their boys was just the tip of the ice berg.) When there was no sign of either Jared or Jensen, Vanco and Piero had been interrogated; two American actors being kidnapped was no small thing.

In the end, it had been Vanco who finally broke down and confessed to leaving the two men abandoned in the jungle; he’d even pointed out on a map where they’d been left. A search party had been sent out almost immediately. By the time they’d reached the place Vanco had directed them to, Jared and Jensen had been miles away; it had taken a few extra days for Catari and his men to track them down.

All of that was behind them now. Jensen and Jared were finally on their way home.

“How’re you holdin’ up?” Jensen asked from beside him. His thumb rubbed against the soft skin between Jared’s forefinger and thumb.

“Just glad to be goin’ home.” Jared glanced out the window then back to Jensen. “Looks like Sydney is a bust for this weekend, huh?”

“Yeah, I don’t think either of us is up for that right now.”

“You think the fans will forgive us?”

“I think so.”

Jensen was quiet for a few minutes. He slid his hand up Jared’s forearm and plucked at the Mating Cuff Jared still wore. “Have you thought about what you wanna do?”

Jared looked down at the platinum bangle. “I gave it a lot of thought those two days on the boat. But… I’m scared, Jen,” Jared admitted. He dropped his head back on the headrest and closed his eyes. “I know you said you’ll support me in whatever I choose to do, but I don’t know.”

Jensen reached over and turned Jared’s head so he would look at him. “Whatever you want. I told you that. I’m not gonna rush this any more than it already has been.” Instead of pulling his hand away, Jensen ran his fingers over his mark on Jared’s neck. “This can be covered up.” He tucked his fingers under the cuff and gave a little tug. “This can come off. No one needs to know but us. And maybe the girls.”

Jared thought of Gen. She was going to be thrilled. The thought had his lips twitching with the hint of a smile. “Yeah, the girls. I think I’ll have to thank Danni for keeping you off the market the last couple years.”

Jensen chuckled. “I guess you could look at it that way.”

They settled back into their seats. They were both still exhausted from their little endeavor and would probably sleep for the next seven or so hours back to LA.

“Hey,” Jensen said after a while.

“What?” Jared opened one eye and looked up at Jensen.

“I forgot. I got a text from Krip earlier.”

“Yeah? What’d he say?”

“Says he’s gonna kick our asses next season. But he’s glad we’re okay.”

Jared grinned.

Several more minutes passed. Jared felt himself dozing off.

"Hey."

"Jen... What?" Jared groaned. He didn't bother to open his eyes this time.

"There _are_ bears in the jungle, genius. Look it up."

Jared laughed and looked at Jensen then.

Jensen gave him a wide smile before pulling the brim of his hat down over his eyes and finally lying back to go to sleep.

~*~

_Wednesday, April 15, 2009 | Los Angeles Int'l Airport | Day 12 | 4:15pm_

 

As soon as they stepped through the security gates, flashbulbs went off in droves blinding them. Jensen cursed, muttering something about the fact that no one could keep their goddamn mouths shut, especially those in government agencies. Jared’s hand subconsciously went up to his neck to make sure the soft, plaid scarf he had on was still situated over his Claiming Mark; Jensen had slipped out at some point during their debriefings in Lima and had picked it up. With a mental nudge from Jensen, they moved out into the mass of reporters.

“Jared! Jensen! Tell us what happened…”

“We heard you were kidnapped…”

“…almost died…”

The questions were shouted and no one held back. Jared saw Jensen pull the brim of his hat down lower before he wrapped an arm around Jared pulling him closer. Danni and Gen were out there somewhere; they just had to find them in the frenzied rush of reporters and photographers. Even though their families had wanted to be here for their arrival, Jared and Jensen had gotten them to agree to meet up at Jared’s house. Jared was thankful they had agreed.

“Jared, is it true that you were held at gunpoint?”

A microphone was stuffed in Jared’s face and Jensen shoved it away with a growl.

They pushed through the reporters who didn’t know the definition of personal space. Dammit, they could really use Clif right about now—the bodyguard would have shut this down before it even got started. Jared was shoved into Jensen as the reporters fought for the front lines.

“Jensen, were you really left stranded in the jungle? Where is Danneel? Why did you go with Jared? Are you and Danneel having relationship problems?”

And shit, if there was a way to piss Jensen off… The paps were really pushing it.

“Jared, look this way…”

One particularly brazen reporter grabbed Jared by the shoulder to get his attention. Jensen was quick to reach out and seized the man by his wrist. He pushed Jared back as he got up in the other alpha’s face.

“What the hell’s your problem, man?” Jensen shouted.

As Jared stumbled back, a long, thin slip of blue and gray material fluttered to the floor between him and Jensen: his scarf. Time seemed to freeze as Jared looked down at it. Jensen suddenly stopped shouting and a too loud hush fell over the room. The silence was deafening. Jared lifted his head and his eyes met with those of his alpha.

Time sped up to its normal pace and all hell broke loose.

“Jared! Jared!”

Jared looked out at the cameras and reporters, eyes wide. His hand came up to cover the Mark, but he was too late. A thousand flashes had to have gone off by then.

_Everyone knew._

“…omega…”

The word had Jared growing dizzy and the room seemed to be pressing in on him.

“Jensen, did you claim Jared?” someone shouted.

The noise level grew louder.

“Jay.” It was Jensen. Jensen was wrapping the scarf back around Jared’s neck (for all the good that would do). “C’mon. Just a little bit further.” Jensen tugged his arm until Jared’s feet started moving forward. “Get outta the way!” the alpha yelled as he cleared a path in front of them.

“Jensen, are you and Jared mates?”

“Does Danneel know? What about Genevieve, Jared?"

"How long have you two been together?”

Jared closed his eyes and let his alpha lead the way. He felt himself begin to hyperventilate. Through the chaos he could _feel_ Jensen, his alpha. He could feel the rage, but he could also feel the love and protectiveness being radiated toward himself. He tried to let it calm him, but he was too shaken up.

“It’s okay, Jay. I’ve got you. I always will. We’ll get through this,” Jensen kept assuring him as they headed for the door and pushed through it.

They finally broke free of the paparazzi and Jared found himself being shoved into the back of Jensen’s SUV. Jared sat back and took a shaky breath in and then let it out. He heard Jensen grumbling about “asshole reporters.” Jensen never did like being followed around. He liked to keep his personal life personal.

The tailgate lifted just as Jensen was slamming the door shut and Danni and Gen tossed Jared’s and Jensen’s bags into the trunk. A second later and the girls were hopping into the car, Danni behind the steering wheel and Gen in the passenger’s seat. The sound of the reporters and their entourage was finally closed off for good.

Jared was reeling from the shock of being so publicly outed. Just to know that it was already out there, that the news was spreading like wildfire… He rested his temple on the tinted window and closed his eyes.

“Wow. You guys sure know how to make an entrance,” he heard Danni say as she started the vehicle.

“Are you two okay?” Gen asked. “Jare?”

Jared opened his eyes when he felt the warmth of Jensen’s hand on the back of his neck. All he wanted to do was climb up into his alpha’s lap and disappear until things calmed down. He shook his head in answer and shifted further down into the leather seat. It was warm outside, but he pulled his over-shirt a little tighter around him. Jensen’s hand rubbed his shoulder, then fell away.

He appreciated it when Jensen spoke up for him. “A lot happened down there, Gen. Just… he needs rest; we both do. Hey, Danni?”

“Yeah?”

“Drop us off at my place. I’ll call the parents later tonight and explain.”

Jared saw Danni glance up in the rearview mirror at them. “Sure. Whatever you say.”

It was quiet in the car as the miles passed by. Jared was thankful for some peace after the last few days of what seemed like endless question after question and then the whole scene at the airport. He felt himself dozing when Danni asked, “So, what exactly did happen down there?”

Jared cracked his eyes open and looked over at his mate. Jensen must have sensed him and looked back at him. His lips curved into a smile.

“I found my El Corazón.” Jensen winked at Jared knowing he would get the reference.

Jared smiled because he knew exactly what Jensen was talking about. He felt pure and utter love wash over him through their bond just before Jensen reached out and tugged him across the space between the seats and into a kiss which Jared gladly reciprocated. They both ignored the "aw"s from the front seat.

Jared had spent the last eight years of his life hiding from himself, from his nature. It was a long and lonely road, even surrounded by the people he loved. Now, because of circumstances that were out of his control, he had to face what he’d kept hidden for so long. But Jared had Jensen, as he always truly had since the first day they met. His alpha would forever be by his side to make sure Jared kept his feet under him… and a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations...  
> ¿Hola? ¿Hay alguien ahí? = Hello? Is anyone there?
> 
> ¿Ustedes son el señor Ackles, y el señor Padalecki? = Are you Mr. Ackles and Mr. Padalecki?  
>    
> *******************************  
> The bears Jensen was referring to are the spectacled bears. They are found in the Andes Mountains of South America, including Peru. (Thank you to [masque](http://archiveofourown.org/users/masque/pseuds/masque) for pointing that out and making the suggestion to include it in the fic.)
> 
> *******************************  
> The reference to "El Corazón" comes from the classic 20th Century Fox film _Romancing the Stone_ (1984). It literally means "the heart."
> 
> ******************************  
> I ALMOST let the story end here, but it felt like I left it too wide open...so stay tuned for the Epilogue. We have some stuff to wrap up.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tagging... I purposely left out a particular tag so as not to give the ending away. But I think you will be fine. It's not a trigger of any sort, otherwise I would tag. And for those top!Jensen/bottom!Jared purists, it's not a switch, so no worries.
> 
> If you want to spoil it just to be on the safe side, see the End Notes :)

 

 

 _February 15, 2011_ _| Supernatural Soundstage – Vancouver, Canada | 11:13am_

 

Jared pushed the tail end of one of his sour rainbows into his mouth as he stepped out of the wardrobe trailer. He shielded his eyes from the morning sun as he looked up at the near-cloudless sky. After several days of gray clouds and rain, it looked like they were finally going to have a nice, sunny day.

It was his first day back after his latest heat. Filming for the nineteenth episode of season six had actually started yesterday, but Jared and Jensen had missed it. Jared’s heat had ended up running an unprecedented _eight_ days. Jensen hadn’t complained. He’d even surprised Jared with breakfast in bed for Valentine’s Day: slightly burnt pancakes and blackened bacon. _Hey, at least he tried_ , Jared thought with fondness.

Jared had yet to actually see his alpha this morning. Jensen had had an early call time today and had been out the door well before the asscrack of dawn. Jared himself wasn’t due on set for another half hour. He would relax and take advantage of the few minutes he had because the next week and a half was going to be chaotic—it always was after one of Jared’s heats—but this particular episode had Sam in almost every scene (Dean, too) which meant it was going to be even more hectic than usual. Jared was confident they could get it done though.

Since his whole “outing” nearly two years ago, Jared had managed to get his life back into some semblance of order. Actually, it really hadn’t been all that difficult to do once the media had moved on to other newer and shinier things, but that wasn’t before they’d tried to hype up Jared and Jensen’s story for all it was worth. Eventually, other A-list celebrity gossip quickly eclipsed the news of some minor actor in Vancouver, who was exposed as an omega, and his new alpha.

The news hadn’t seemed to affect the show’s fan base all that much either. The ratings were still up and growing. As Jensen had said, people were more accepting of Jared’s omega status than he’d thought they’d be. Of course, it didn’t hurt that everyone on set, the actors and crew, alike, were like one big family. Jared had been quickly forgiven by everyone and by the end of the summer of that year, Jared’s and Jensen’s lives were nearly back to normal.

Within days of their homecoming, Kripke had called them in to his LA office for a meeting. After reaming them for running off to the jungle—do you know what an earful he got from _The Powers That Be_?—he gave them a little heart-to-heart as their friend. Nothing was going to change. Jared _was_ Sam. They would make this work, he’d said. And it was a promise he’d kept. Sera had also made sure to keep that same promise once she’d taken over as showrunner last year.

The biggest issue was working around Jared’s heats, but they found ways. Hiatuses were frequent enough that Jared made sure to sync his heats up with them—and if the timing didn’t work, they dealt with it… like they had this past week.

In the beginning, Jensen had been adamant that Jared keep to an every-four-month schedule. Jared’s physician, Dr. Felding, had agreed. Jared had been sternly warned by the good doctor that he couldn’t keep going the way he had been. It was wearing on his body. After the first year, and with his doctor’s consent, Jared was allowed to spread his heats out to every five months, six only if absolutely necessary. So far, so good.

“Hey, Jared,” one of the PAs called out to him as he was walking across the lot.

“Oh, hey, Mindy. How’re you?”

At twenty-two, Mindy was a college student who was working on her degree in film studies—she was going to be teaming up with the editing department for the show next year. The beta was one of Jared’s favorite PAs, and with good reason. She was always showing up with bags of gummi bears for him.

“Great, thanks. Good to see you back. Hey, have you seen Misha around? They’re looking for him on set. I’ve got ten minutes to find him.”

Jared glanced around the lot. He hadn’t seen the older man since getting to work this morning.

“No, but I guarantee wherever he is, he’s up to no good,” he replied with a grin.

Mindy laughed. “Like you’re much better when left alone for too long. I was there the day Misha parked in your spot, remember?”

That had Jared laughing. He remembered the day all too well. “Hey, he started it. He should have known better.”

“You pushed his car out of your spot with your _truck_ ,” Mindy said with a smile and a shake of her head. “I won’t even go into what you two did after.”

Jared shrugged, wide grin still on his face. “What can I say? All I know is he hasn’t parked there since.”

“I work with a bunch of giant, overgrown kids,” Mindy groaned. “Well, I have to get back to work,” the beta said with a sigh. “I’m gonna go check the food tent since he's not in his trailer.” She started to walk off then, but stopped and looked back at Jared. “Oh, and Jensen’s in stage three. They’re just finishing his scene.”

“Thanks, Min. I’ll see you around. Good luck finding the angel!”

Mindy took off toward the food tent and Jared made a beeline for stage three.

~*~

Jared walked down the long hallway, heading toward soundstage three. It was quiet, but that was usually the case when filming was underway.

He carefully pulled the door open and stepped inside. It was dark aside from the stage lighting under which Jensen was standing, the absolute persona of Dean Winchester. Jared weaved through the crew and stood next to John Showalter, the director for this episode. The man looked up at Jared and acknowledged him with a silent nod before turning his eyes back to the monitor. Jared watched with him as the scene played out, Jensen hitting every mark without fail.

Jared jumped when Showalter called out, “Cut. That’s a wrap. Take ten, people.”

Jensen smoothed a hand down over his face clearing Dean away; the difference was striking. When his hand fell to his side, he looked up, his eyes finding Jared almost immediately. He’d clearly sensed his mate through their bond. From across the room, Jared could see Jensen’s nose twitch as he scented him: Jared, a distinctive smell in a room full of alphas and betas.

Jensen moved toward him, nodding politely to the people he passed on the way. Jared was expecting a kiss and a good morning from his alpha, but Jensen just grabbed him by the arm and kept walking.

“Jen? What’s goin’ on?”

Jensen pulled Jared out into the deserted hallway without a word. Jared reached out through their bond. He couldn’t sense anything wrong. As a matter of fact, he felt the complete opposite coming from his mate. Everything felt _right_.

Jensen stopped at the door to one of the props rooms and opened it. He tugged Jared through and kicked the door closed behind them, flicking on the light switch as he did. From there, he pushed Jared back up against the door with a growl and wrapped his hands around Jared’s head to pull him down into a deep kiss.

Jared had no idea what was going on, but he gladly opened to his mate’s questing tongue.

When they finally broke apart for air, lips still a hair’s breadth away from each other, Jensen looked up at Jared with darkened eyes. Jared could sense an air of possessiveness coming from his alpha.

Jared raised his eyebrows. “Are you gonna clue me in sometime today? What’s this all about? Not that I’m complaining…”

“Jay, god, you smell so good right now” was Jensen’s not-an-answer. Instead, he leaned in and scented Jared. “Fuck,” he murmured as he tugged Jared’s (Sam’s) t-shirt out of his jeans and ran a warm hand up over Jared’s bared skin, only to have it come back down to rest on Jared’s stomach; Jared's muscles jumped and quivered under Jensen's palm. “My omega,” he whispered into the skin of Jared’s neck; his teeth grazed over his Claiming Mark causing Jared to shiver where he stood.

 _Why was Jensen acting all alpha-y right now?_ Jared's heat was done, over as of yesterday, thank god. It had taken goddamn long enough. There was no reason for—

Oh.

_Oh, my god._

“Jensen?”

Jensen stepped back when Jared brought a hand up between them and gently pushed him away so he could look at him. Jared didn’t miss the subtle glance his alpha gave to his midsection. If Jared hadn’t figured it out already, that would have clued him in pretty quickly.

This was no mistake; they had decided to start trying two cycles ago. Jared had wanted this. Jensen had wanted this. And now…

 _Holy shit_ was all Jared could think as the idea began to sink in.

“I—I’m…” Jared trailed off. All coherent thought fled his mind. The concept of forming a complete sentence was lost to him. This was not news he’d expected to hear when he’d woken up this morning worn out from such a long heat. Clearly, those two extra days had been worth it.

Jensen looked at Jared; a deluge of pure love mixed with a good amount of giddy excitement hit Jared all at once. His alpha smiled as he reached up to brush Jared’s long bangs out of his face.

“Yeah, Jay. You are.”

 

~ Fin ~

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Withheld tag: mPreg. I have tagged for "mPreg (mention of)" and this _is_ an a/b/o, so I figured if you're already here, you would be fine with the lack of the tag :)
> 
> ***********************************
> 
> To hear Misha talking about the prank mentioned above, click [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKOPzYC0nT8&feature=youtu.be).
> 
> ***********************************
> 
> So what do you think? Did I do okay? You have all been so kind to me and I thank you for that. It means a lot to me. Love you all for taking the time to read my little story <3 <3 <3

**Author's Note:**

> Please remember to leave comments. If you don't feel like leaving a comment and like the story even just a little, hit the Kudos button so I know you were here.


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